Pastor Peters Osawaru Omoragbon, President, Nurses Across the Borders International, an Environmentalist and first UNFCC Designated Contact Person, (from Nigeria since 2004) has criticized the $300billion which the developed countries approved for climate change effects mitigation in the developing nations.
Omoragbon averred that such fund is paltry, insufficient and grossly inadequate, and that the developing countries need to wake up to their responsibility.
The Professional Nurse and Environmentalist was speaking on Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Sunday where he discussed the resolutions of COP 29 Summit with regards to Climate Change effects mitigation. He stated that such money is a slap on the developing nations.
Omoragbon said “$300billion for developing countries to address climate change devastating effects as far as we are concerned, is a slap on the developing nations.”
Speaking on agreement reached in 2009 regarding funds to be donated to the less developed countries to fight climate concerns, he expressed regrets that the developed nations failed to keep to the agreement. “There was an agreement that developed countries should contribute about $100billion annually to support nation’s in trying to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change, and that was to have started from 2020.
“As we speak, the $100 billion has not even been given because it was expected to have started next year, and negotiation is still going on up until COP 29, which was supposed to be the finance cop, and where everyone was hopeful that by the end of this cop, a lot of decisions will have been taken by the developed nations but what they have just come up with today is nothing but trying to play politics with the lives of the developing nations.
“One, the summit recognized the need for the nationally determined contribution (NDC) cost needs of developing nations is up to 5.1 trillion and 6.8 trillion, required which is about 455 to 584 billion dollars annually for climate adaptation finance, and then 215 and 387 billion dollars , they equally recognized that on section 3 under this current agreement and they also recognized under section 7 of this current agreement that yes they need to scale up about $1.3 trillion annually. And they ended up by offering us $300billion.
Omoragbon also knocked the move based on current global inflationary trend. He added that the developed countries place no value in developing nations. “Now the question is, of what use is $300million compared to the current inflationary trend when we need 5.1 to 6.8 trillion dollars. So what is actually happening is the developed countries by their actions on yearly basis is demonstrating that they don’t place value on the lives of people from developing countries.
“Because if you look at the census you discover that over one billion people resides in the least developed and the small island developing countries. These countries are already spending their own public funding to meet the devastating demands of climate disaster. And Africa or the developing countries contribute just less than 4% of the global emmission and yet suffer the effects of the 96% contributed by the developed nations
“Now if you also look at value by developed nations on developing countries compared to the amount of money they spend on producing weapons of mass destruction it beats one’s imagination. The s400Triumph missile produced by America cost America one battery $500million. And now you are just dangling $300billion to developing nations to mitigate the problem that they are the causes,” Omoragbon said.
He added that the developing countries have rejected the offer. “We in the civil society are not impressed, even the African countries, for the first time the developing countries spoke with one voice and rejected that because the cost of meeting the loss and damage trying to prepare the facility to mitigate and adapt to climate change especially the impact on our heads is such that the developed countries need to wake up to their responsibility.
“So the answer to your question is a big no! $300billion is far inadequate and we have made our position known even through the various bodies we belong to, the global health and climate alliance in conjunction with more than 200 civil societies which we are major players, have already made our statement clear, that $300billion is not what is going to meet our need as developed countries . The developed countries need to wake up,” Omoragbon stated.
He added that the developed world are not serious in fighting climate change effects, adding that in as much as the developed nations continue to depend on fossil fuel, they would continue to hold Africa perpetually down. “Can I quickly say something, whatever the developed countries are doing, they are the ones trying to buy time, they are not prepared to totally eradicate their reliance on fossil fuel, and about 70% of it is imported from the developing countries, so they still want to be importing our oils using it to develop their nations, and then keep us underdeveloped,while they continue to rely on the product we should have used if proper funding is provided for us to mitigate the oil exploration that is coming out from African developing countries.
“So it is a sad reality, we still continue to push, we are not giving up and they recognized this in section 3, 7, 8 of the new draft agreement . So we just continue with the struggle and we are not giving up.”
