Britain committed to fight climate change
The United Kingdom has expressed satisfaction with the progress made during its COP26 Presidency, which it assumed in 2019 and pledged more support to Malawi’s fight against climate change.
Malawi: The United Kingdom has expressed satisfaction with the progress made during its COP26 Presidency, which it assumed in 2019 and pledged more support to Malawi’s fight against climate change.
In a statement which was read at the briefing on the Twenty-Seventh Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Lilongwe, Acting British High Commissioner David Pert stated that the UK is proud of the collective achievement in four areas; namely mitigation, adaptation, finance, and collaboration, but that more needs to be done if all of the commitments set in the Glasgow Climate Pact last year are to be met.
At COP26, the Adaptation Fund was replenished with $350 million, which was three times the amount raised previously.
Pert said: “Through 2022, we have continued to press developed countries to deliver the $100 billion goal and demonstrate progress on doubling adaptation finance from a 2019 baseline by 2025. The UK helped form initiatives to improve the flow of adaptation finance to the most vulnerable countries including through the Access to Finance initiative and Least Developed Countries Initiative for Effective Adaptation and Resilience (LIFE-AR), both of which Malawi is a party to.”
The LIFE-AR initiative, which is being implemented through a collaboration between UNDP and the Malawi government's Environmental Affairs Department, has been included on the list of accomplishments.
This year, the UK will also support Malawian adaptation initiatives.
“This complements longstanding UK bilateral support in Malawi for resilience and adaptation,” he said.
“The UK also prioritized bringing protection of natural resources into the climate discussions and Glasgow saw unprecedented support for this agenda, with 145 Heads of State including Malawi endorsing the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use: a huge success for tackling deforestation.”
“At the international level, these commitments are being carried through to the COP27 World Leaders Summit through the Forest and Climate Leaders’ Partnership and here in Malawi, the UK is supporting the government with its efforts to stem illegal deforestation and tackle the energy crisis through our co-funded Modern Cooking for Healthy Forests programme.” Pert said.
The Civil Society Network on Climate Change (CISONECC) said in a statement that they welcome the Glasgow Pact on Loss and Damage but are concerned about a lack of substantive implementation.
“We are uncertain about the time needed to translate it into action as extreme events continue to devastate livelihoods and economies in Africa in the meantime,” said CISONECC representative Clement Ndiwo
“We are alarmed by the most recent IPCC reports which revealed that the world is on a path to exceed 1.5℃ warming within the next decade and points to poor climate leadership, and that under the most ambitious trajectory Africa will still suffer unbearable climate change impacts”
The CSO network says it supports calls for states with high greenhouse gas emissions to bear the burdens and duties of mitigation, adaptation, and reparation in proportion to their historic and current emissions.
“The principle of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities’ also requires that those with more resources do more to address climate change and that international climate change negotiations need to operationalize this principle,” said Ndiwo.
The Egyptian Presidency, according to Minister of Natural Resources and Climate Change Eisenhower Mkaka, has called for the COP27 to be inclusive, ambitious, deliver substantive outcomes, and be guided by principles based on agreements, decisions, pledges, and commitments dating from RIO 1992 to Glasgow 2021.
He stated that the COP27 in Egypt will place a greater emphasis on providing climate finance and adaptation to vulnerable communities, following the ambitious pledges made by country parties at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland.
“As such, the COP27 is expected to advance the Glasgow Pact including accelerating climate action through emissions reduction, scaling-up adaptation efforts, and striving for enhanced flows of appropriate finance, particularly for adaptation, loss, and damage,” Mkaka said.
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