Africa wants climate reparations and debt help now – Creecy

Environment Minister Barbara Creecy is calling for immediate financial aid for developing countries hit by climate disasters, laying the bill at the door of the US and Europe’s richest nations.

Wealthy countries should provide aid through a so-called loss and damage mechanism, and multilateral development banks should be recapitalised to provide more finance to tackle global warming, she said on the sidelines of the COP27 international climate summit in Egypt.

China and India – the world’s biggest and third-biggest emitters of greenhouse gases respectively – should be excluded from paying compensation as they are still developing economies, Creecy added.

These comments, which came after she met with other African ministers to align their positions, highlight the global rift on climate matters. Officials from the developing world have long said that wealthy nations, which have benefited from the industrialisation that’s warmed the planet for two centuries, are liable for compensation.

“From the perspective of the African Group of Negotiators we do need to see immediate support for loss and damage on the continent,” Creecy said. “We want money right now.”

While the agreement to discuss loss and damage was a breakthrough, anything involving compensation and liability “is just not happening,” said John Kerry, the US special envoy for climate change.

China emits 11.47 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent annually, while India produces 2.71 billion tons, according to Carbon Atlas. The US emits five billion tons, and Russia lies in fourth place at 1.76 billion tons.

While floods that covered more than a third of Pakistan this year have brought the Loss and Damage issue to the fore, Africa has been hit by devastating climate-related events in 2022. Chad and Nigeria are battling floods, and more than 400 people died when torrential rain hit Durban.