As the world officially kicked start the Conference of the Parties (COP 29), highly defined as ‘Finance COP’ at Baku in Azerbaijan on November,11th 2024, many world leaders and Civil Society Organisations have expressed worry over the impending change of administration in the White House -as the incoming President, Donald Trump’s foreign policy is not friendly to financing on Climate Change, the biggest agenda at this Baku United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
In 2017 President Trump is on record for pulling away the United States from the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, a pact that nations made to prevent Earth from warming more than 1.5–2 °C by curbing their emissions.
However, Climate Justice revolutionaries like Dr. Mithika Mwenda, the Executive Director of Pan-African Justice Alliance (PACJA), a key Civil Society institution fronting the agenda of the African Nations at COP 29 with a serious campaign dubbed ‘’Keep the Promise” is not among those afraid of new leadership at the White House.
“Climate Challenges is for everyone and the United States is not safe from climate crisis either, hence the United States needs partners to work with. I see no need to worry. If they don’t want to be our friends or support Africans in solidarity to address the Climate Crisis, we shall still have other partners to work with”. Dr. Mithika said during an interview from Baku during the opening of the COP 29 on Monday.
According to Dr. Mithika, nothing shall divert the mission at COP 29 to ensure that the global north countries fulfill their historical responsibility and provide adequate and predictable finance, technology transfer, and capacity building to support adaptation, mitigation, and loss and damage in Africa as far as climate change is concerned.
Auma Treeza Opondo, the Founder of Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Action Aid (PESAID) from Kenya said she hopes that by the end of COP 29, the global North keeps their promise on finance so that youth-led organizations in Africa are supported with funds to increase involvement and reach of their initiative at a local level.
Dr. Phillip Omondi, a project Manager of Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation from the Intergovernmental Authority on Development in Eastern Africa (IGAD) believes that African Governments should also adopt proactive measures in responding to climate change rather than reactive measures.
“At IGAD -we are prioritizing an Anticipatory approach on climate security where all stakeholders like UN agencies, and Redcross sit down when early warnings on an emergency are known hence Governments in Africa first want to wait until there is a landslide then they respond, this is reactionary and shall not help -hence going forward -we are advocating using this COP 29 for Governments to adopt anticipatory approach to reactionary approach that has claimed lives over time”.
Over 5000 officials have gathered in Baku within the next 9 to 11 days where critical climate change decisions will be made.
Read the position of the Civil Society organizations on COP 29 here PACJA-Position-for-COP29-
