UNFCCC

As global greenhouse emissions continue to rise, and climate change wreaks more havoc upon the people and places least responsible for the problem, rich polluting countries are now three years overdue on their promise to mobilize $100 billion a year in climate finance for low- and middle-income countries.

An average of 189 million people per year have been affected by extreme weather-related events in developing countries since 1991 – the year that a mechanism was first proposed to address the costs of climate impacts on low-income countries - according to a new report published today.

Details of the World Bank’s climate finance flows to developing countries are being poorly disclosed and may be hiding discrepancies and allowing for dubious claims, according to a new report by Oxfam.

The amount of money needed for UN humanitarian appeals involving extreme weather events like floods or drought is now eight times higher than 20 years ago — and donors are failing to keep up, reveals a new Oxfam brief today. For every $2 needed for UN weather-related appeals, donor countries are only providing $1.

Responding to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (UNFCCC) updated NDC Synthesis Report, Oxfam France’s Advocacy Manager Armelle Le Comte said: “This confirms we are still dangerously off track from limiting global warming to the vital 1.5°C limit. The climate clock is ticking ever closer to midnight and COP26 now needs to be a planetary crisis meeting. Governments need to agree to revise their climate plans more regularly to get us back on track. Remedial action is desperately needed now —there is no later or better time."

In reaction to the UNFCCC NDC Synthesis report launched today, Oxfam's Global Climate Policy Lead, Nafkote Dabi, said: “Today’s report findings are appalling. The combined climate plans submitted account to a dismal 1% emissions reduction, far below the 45% reduction needed to limit global warming below 1.5 degrees, and avoid disastrous impacts on vulnerable communities."
 

The contentious issue of financial support for communities, including displaced communities, which have suffered loss and damage as a result of the climate crisis is expected to take center stage at the UN Climate Summit in Madrid from 2 – 13 December 2019.

With the United Nations’ climate conference drawing to a close, it’s clear there’s been very little progress on how to help people affected by climate change, despite record-breaking hurricanes and catastrophic floods dominating headlines this year.

There is likely to be a climate deal in Paris. The emission pledges that more than 150 governments have put on the table this year show that global climate ambition is increasing. In this briefing Oxfam looks at potential game-changers on finance and mitigation ambition that could avert these costs for the world’s poorest people.

Negotiators have given themselves the tools to build a stronger deal in Paris, but governments must now put them to good use. Oxfam will continue to press for a climate deal for the world’s poorest people. Exclusion of civil society from the process that has characterized the meeting in Bonn must not be a precedent for Paris.