Poor nations say rich countries 'insufficient' to provide aid to tackle climate crisis

The United States President Joe Biden convened a climate summit in which world leaders despite political conflicts pledged climate cooperation. During the summit, Gaston Browne, prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda raised concern over smaller countries getting affected due to rising seas and worsening hurricanes. Browne called for debt relief and more international assistance to recover from storms and the pandemic. He said that the people in his country are "teetering on the edge of despair".

We remind that the members of the Alliance of Small Island States, through no fault of their own, confront the greatest threats of Climate Change. The AOSIS members are the least contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Collectively, they emit just 1.5 percent of the emissions of industrialized nations, and many of them have already begun to roll out programmes to reduce their carbon footprint still further, particularly in renewable energy, read the statement by Gaston Browne PM of Antigua and Barbuda at the summit.

Over the years, the debt of small states has risen to unsustainable levels, because of repeated borrowings to rebuild and recover from continuous debilitation by natural disasters, arising from climate change. Mechanisms, introduced by International Financial Institutions (IFIs), for addressing the looming debt crisis are insufficient, the statement added. 

Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank said that Africa was losing between $7bn and $15bn in a year due to climate change, reported The Guardian. He raised concern that this would rise to $50bn a year by 2040. He said that Africa is at ground zero and the nations must help Africa to get a "chance of adapting to what it did not cause." Kenyan President Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta told the summit, “We cannot win this fight against climate change unless we go globally to fight it together.”

Sonam Wangdi, chair of the Least Developed Countries group, formed of 46 governments with a combined population of more than 1 billion people urged the world leaders to  help in implementing the ambitious climate plans. He said that these plan will safeguard the lives and livelihoods of the people in developing countries, reported The Guardian. He called for financial support for developing countries and LDCs to address the climate crisis.  

Biden used the summit to announce he intended to cut US coal and petroleum emissions in half by 2030, nearly doubling the previous target. He added that these steps will set America's economy to net-zero emissions by no later than 2050. He said that meeting this challenge would require mobilising finance on an unprecedented scale. He said that his approach will create jobs and boost the economy.

“The signs are unmistakable. The science is undeniable. The cost of inaction keeps mounting", he said.

(Image and Inputs from AP)