The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has said that to achieve low carbon and just transition, low-income countries will need more financing and accelerated international cooperation.
IPCC made this known during the presentation of its 17-chapter working group report, tagged ‘Climate change 2022: Mitigation of climate change,’ to African journalists.
During the presentation, the panel noted that for low-income countries and vulnerable regions, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, an increase in public grants for adaptation and mitigation may have the highest returns.
While making her presentation, lead author of the report, Nokuthula Dube, said that mobilising diverse sources of capital from both local and international sources in tackling climate change and sustainable development is important to mitigation.
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Dube noted that the assessment points to accelerated international co-operation on finance as a critical enabler of low carbon and just transition.
“Scaled-up public grants in the funding to tackle climate change for low-income and vulnerable regions, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, may have the highest returns,” Dube said.
Dube who focused on chapter 15 on ‘Investment and finance’, further explained that meeting the $100 billion UNFCCC Copenhagen Accord on a grant-equivalent basis could support Paris aligned NDCs (national plans) integrate policies on COVID-19 pandemic recovery, climate action, sustainable development, just transition and equity.
“In the process, we will also harness co-benefits towards hidden energy poverty such as clean-cooking, “she said. “Close to three billion people in Africa and developing Asia have no access to clean cooking energy.”
One of the lead authors of the report, Celine Guivarch also noted that economic inequalities could be created if emissions are reduced at the speed and scale required to limit warming to two degrees or below.
“But policies can be designed to avoid increasing or even decreasing economic inequality and poverty. This entails broadening access to clean technologies and international finance,” Guivarch said.
Story was adapted from Nigerian Tribune.
