Africa: Civil Society Call the EU to Innovatively Fund Climate Change Programmes
By Henry Neondo
DOHA--Representatives of the African civil society groups coalescing under the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) Wednesday in Doha, Qatar asked the European Union Member States to allocate at least 25% of Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) revenues to climate finance – especially targeting critically needed adaptation funding.
A financial transaction tax is a levy placed on a specific type of monetary transaction for a particular purpose.
Speaking at a press conference organised by the International Policy Institute and Oxfam at the ongoing 18th Conference of Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, George Awudi of PACJA said such a measure would provide a significant portion of the EU fair share developed country efforts, and would clearly meet the requirement of being “new and additional.”
In Copenhagen, industrialized countries pledged to mobilize $100 billion per year by 2020 in climate finance. This would provide urgently needed funding to enable us to protect our people from the worst effects of climate change - extreme weather, massive economic disruption, and loss of life and livelihoods. With this money, we could re-direct economic development toward climate sustainability and reduce our rates of greenhouse gas emissions.
As the Fast Start Finance period comes to a close, industrialized countries have little to show but repackaged aid and rhetorical reassurances that they won’t turn their back on their financing responsibilities over the next years.
The call to the EU comes against the background of dwindling support for adaptation – particularly through the Adaptation Fund among the delegates representing developed countries at the COP18. Neither has the recently formed Green Climate Fund has any coffer.
Coupled with the lack of clear roadmap for scaling up funding to $100 billion by 2020, the African civil society said they are deeply concerned that this COP may prove to be “an empty meeting, offering no promises and commitments,”
“We are aware of the economic problems in developed countries, and we are sympathetic to the impact the economic crisis has had on our friends in Europe and elsewhere in the developed world,” he said.
Fortunately, said Awudi, the economic crisis offers not only obstacles, but also fresh opportunities to find additional financing for climate change.
A forward thinking group of European Union member states are going to implement a financial transactions tax next year.
France has already committed to allocate part of the revenue to development and climate finance. Influential figures as diverse as Kofi Annan, Desmond Tutu, and Bill Gates – as well as thousands of EU citizens – have spoken in favour of allocating revenues to development and the fight against global warming.
A recent study by the well-respected German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin) estimated that the proposed European FTT would raise €40bn each year in the twelve EU countries that have agreed move forward with the tax so far.
“We, developing countries gathered today in Doha, are asking EU Member States to allocate at least 25% of FTT revenues to climate finance – especially targeting critically needed adaptation funding. This would provide a significant portion of the EU fair share developed country efforts, and would clearly meet the requirement of being “new and additional,” he said.
He urged the rest of the industrialized world to follow suit in implementing an FTT and allocating a significant portion of the revenues to international climate finance.
Awudi said at a COP where developed countries must provide clarity on scaling up climate finance beginning in 2013, Europe’s FTT offers a clear opportunity to help the EU show bold leadership and meet its commitment.