‘Don’t hold your breath’
Developing countries urged to make their own way on climate-change readiness
TO EXPECT financing from the developed world to boost preparedness for climatechange impacts would be foolhardy of vulnerable countries, including small island developing states of the Caribbean, given the reality of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Globally, up to April 28, COVID-19 had infected more than 2.9 million people and killed more than 200,000.
“It is almost certain that tackling the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic will put all other demands, including tackling climate change, on the back burner,” said Dr Saleemul Huq, senior fellow at the International Institute for Environment & Development (IIED) in London, in a recent exchange with The Gleaner.
However, there may be hope yet: self-reliance.
“My own view is that most vulnerable countries had already lost faith in the promise made and not kept about providing climate finance from the rich, polluting countries. So they have already been relying on their own limited finance and waiting for the promised funds to arrive,” noted Huq, who is also director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development at the Independent University Bangladesh.
FINANCIAL PROMISES
“Don’t hold your breath!” he added, as advice for countries with respect of the promised financing, despite the principles of ‘common but differentiated responsibility’ and/or ‘the polluter should pay’ that have long been a feature of global climate change negotiations.
His sentiments reflect those of Professor Anthony Chen, a celebrated physicist here in Jamaica.
“We are not going to see any goodwill on the part of these countries that have promised so much money. It is only the threat of climate change and one similar to the global pandemic that will trigger help – unfortunately,” said the professor, who has won the Nobel Peace Prize for his climate research work.
He was speaking in a recent interview with The Gleaner.
The now-historic Paris Agreement – which has been ratified by some 189 of the 197 parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – notes “this agreement will be implemented to reflect equity and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, in light of different national circumstances”.
At the same time, signatories committed to “making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development,” as part of the overall aim
“to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change, in the context of sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty”.
However, how, if at all, countries will proceed on the basis of those provisions is unclear, given the strain that has been put on national coffers the world over, as governments move to interrupt the transmission of the virus that causes the disease, provide a standard of care or otherwise save the lives of those affected – all while preserving their economies.
According to Huq, vulnerable countries, such as those of the Caribbean , who stand to lose the most from climate impacts, including global warming and extreme hurricane events, have always only had ‘strong moral case’.
“The vulnerable countries always only had a strong moral case against the rich, polluting countries. They managed to get promises of funding but very little delivery. So, depending on promises being kept would be foolhardy,” he said.
The Caribbean, meanwhile, is bracing for an active hurricane season this year, even as islands, including Jamaica, continue to do battle with water shortages made more chronic by persistent drought conditions from which there appears to be little relief. This is given continued temperature increases and calls for rationing.