The 29th Conference of Parties (COP29) on climate change took place in Baku, Azerbaijan. Our colleague Shitaye Astawes of ADF (African Disability Forum) participated in person. This U.N. climate summit delivered a deal on climate finance two days past deadline, after two weeks of tense negotiations.
Climate finance is of crucial importance to developing nations, in particular in Africa. The funds are required for addressing the impacts of climate change, not caused by Africa, that affect the food security and livelihoods, in particular of persons with disabilities. Even after reaching a deal for $300 billion per year by 2035, many developing countries said the amount was far too low, as they had calculated the need for at least $1.300 billion a year, starting next year.
Climate impacts
Countries raised alarms about the fact that both greenhouse gas emissions and global temperatures are still rising. They have been hit by increasingly extreme weather, making clear that the pace of progress has not been fast enough to prevent a climate crisis. This year is heading to be warmest ever on record, with evidence of climate impacts spiralling faster than expected. Widespread flooding has killed thousands and left millions hungry; deadly landslides have buried villages and drought has shrunk rivers – vital transport corridors – and livelihoods. Persons with disabilities often come last when it comes to aid for prevention or resilience.
US elections and European pledges
The recent U.S. election results have significantly limited the country’s ability to make meaningful contributions at COP29, despite being the world’s largest historical polluter and bearing substantial responsibility for climate change. This has also dampened hopes for meeting the climate finance target, as the U.S., the world’s largest economy, is unlikely to provide substantial funding.
Additionally, financial pledges from Europe and other major donors have fallen short of expectations. The promised funds are not truly additional to existing development aid and consist of a mix of loans and grants, as well as contributions from both the public and private sectors. This setup will make it particularly challenging for civil society organizations, including organizations of persons with disabilities (OPDs), to access these critical resources. As a result, efforts to support poor and vulnerable communities most affected by climate change may face significant obstacles.
Fossil fuels
This year’s COP was the third in a row to be held in a fossil fuel producing country, with the president of host country Azerbaijan telling the summit that oil and gas resources were “a gift that should be used”. In the end, the summit failed to set steps for countries to build on last year’s COP28 pledge to transition away from fossil fuels and triple renewable energy capacity this decade. Many negotiators saw that as a failure – and a sign that fossil fuel interests were overpowering climate talks.
ADF engagements
Aligned with ADF’s new strategic commitment to lobby and advocate for disability inclusive climate change actions, Shitaye’s participation at COP29 included attending workshops and rallies about climate change impacts, global warming, climate finance, climate justice, and climate negotiations. ADF was able to contribute to the re-formation and engagement of the Disability Climate Caucus through participating at the Caucus daily meetings. She was also engaged in lobby and advocacy, together with members of the Disability Climate Caucus, which has now been recognized as a stand-alone constituent in climate change actions. And she also participated at the daily Human Rights Working Group meetings with the purpose of contributing to human rights-based terminologies and references in the text development. In doing so, she worked closely with International Disability Alliance (IDA) and European Disability Forum (EDF), and connected to the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA).
