Ministers from the 46 Least Developed Countries (LDCs) have met in Dakar, Senegal, ahead of COP27, the UN international climate meeting that will take place in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt in November 2022, to coordinate the LDC Group’s strategy for securing more tangible and ambitious outcomes that match the urgency of the climate crisis.
As world leaders converge this week for the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and set out their countries’ priorities, it is vital that climate action remains a top priority. Addressing the climate crisis cannot be adequately done without capturing the demands of the most vulnerable countries. Last week, negotiators and Ministers from the LDCs discussed key issues to be addressed at COP27 and set out their common interests and priorities in the Dakar LDC Ministerial Communiqué on Climate Change 2022.
Addressing the LDC Ministers, Abdou Karim Sall, Senegal’s Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, highlighted:
“The Least Developed Countries are bearing the brunt of the devastating consequences of climate change. Failure to act against this phenomenon risks undermining decades of development and robbing millions of people of development. Ambitious and urgent climate action is needed to put the world on track to limit warming to 1.5°C. Huge emissions gaps remain and need to be closed in this critical decade.”
Speaking about the LDC Group’s priorities for COP27, Sall said, “Among the key issues of the climate negotiations for this year are prominently the financial mechanism for loss and damage, the Global Goal on Adaptation, the raising of the ambition in the fight against climate change as well as the establishment of sources of appropriate funding.”
“With regard to loss and damage, the fundamental priority is to secure new and additional financing to deal with it. The Glasgow Dialogue must lead to the establishment of a dedicated financing mechanism, and the financing of loss and damage must be considered as an independent element in the New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance.”
“The issue of funding has always been the linchpin of the climate negotiations. Increasing adaptation finance has been a significant achievement, but improving access to it is also essential for LDCs.”
Ms Madeleine Diouf Sarr, the Chair of the LDC Group in the climate negotiations, added:
“COP27 will be a critical moment for our nations as we continue our fight towards climate justice: securing climate finance to protect our people from the impacts of a climate crisis they did little to cause and keeping the possibility of limiting warming to 1.5°C alive.”
“The 1.5 goal is a lifeline for the LDCs, and anything above that is a death sentence. For several years already, the climate crisis has led to destruction and devastation across LDCs, and the impacts of climate change are only going to increase in intensity and frequency, adding to the burdens of our nations, setting back our development efforts and leading to unrecoverable loss and damage.”
“For us vulnerable countries, it is crucial that our capacities to adapt to the inevitable impacts of climate change are increased. Developed countries must deliver on their promise of doubling adaptation finance. At COP27, we must see a plan for the delivery of these promised funds. The details of the Global Goal on Adaptation must also be developed. Adaptation is a critical pillar of the Paris Agreement that must not be ignored.”
“A continuous flow of finance is one of the objectives of the Paris Agreement and a vital element in the fight against climate change. Developed countries must make up the shortfall in delivering the agreed $100 billion in climate finance annually. And at COP27, as deliberations on the new climate finance goal continue, we must ensure that the next goal is based on science and reflects the full needs of our countries.”
By Adebola Adeyemi
