Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) and the Bali Action Plan, developed countries agreed to help developing countries cut the growth of CO2 emmissions, reduce deforestation and adapt to climate change. To date no developing country has seen these funds.
For Africa, it is important that these leaders commit to providing sustainable funding today because the plunder of natural resources across the continent have brought with them injustices against many Africans. Illegal logging and severe destruction of the Congo Forest Basin, as well as over-fishing off the coast of West Africa are but some of the examples of the urgent environmental challenges that need to be addressed immediately.
Without predictable, equitable and additional funding, many of the African states will be unable to halt the effects of climate change that have been mostly caused by G8 countries, which emit around 40 percent of global CO2 emissions, despite being home to only 13 percent of the world’s population.
These eight leaders meeting at L’Aquila, Italy need to agree on mid-term and long-term measures that will help Africa mitigate the effects of climate change. The leaders also need to identify appropriate channels through which such funding can be disbursed to the continent to stem the tide against climate change.
At the G8 today Greenpeace is calling for the following:
- The G8 must provide US$106 billion (€74 billion) of the US$140 billion needed annually for developing countries to adapt to and take action on climate change and to finance forest protection.
- The G8 must immediately commit to the establishment of a funding mechanism to stop deforestation and associated emissions in all developing countries by 2020, and achieve zero deforestation in the Congo Basin, the Amazon and Indonesia by 2015.
- Global temperatures must be kept as far below a 2 degree Celsius increase as possible, compared to pre-industrial levels to avert catastrophic climate change.
- Global emissions must peak by 2015 and be as close to zero as possible by 2050, compared to 1990 levels.
- As a group the G8 must commit to at least 40 percent emission cuts by 2020.
As the leaders line up for the photo opportunity before the meeting, they should also realise that by committing to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2020 they could spark an energy revolution and help secure a strong UN climate treaty in Copenhagen in December.
