- The Guardian
- Issue #2128
As the year draws to a close, corporations and their compliant governments are taking humanity closer to self-destruction. Developing countries went to the COP29 UN climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan in good faith. The main focus of COP29 was a “loss and damage” fund for developing nations to address climate change. Developed countries washed their hands of their historical and moral imperative of their responsibility. Developing countries were seeking US$1.3 trillion per annum by 2035. The summit concluded on 24 November with developed countries aiming to deliver a paltry $300 billion per year to developing countries by 2035 to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and protect lives and livelihoods from the worsening impacts of climate change.
Australia, one of the largest exporters of fossil fuels announced it would contribute a pathetic AU$50 million. This is a government that can find hundreds of billions of dollars for the military industrial complex and billions in subsidies for fossil fuel corporations.
“I regret to say that this document is nothing more than an optical illusion. This, in our opinion, will not address the enormity of the challenge we all face.” Indian delegation representative Chandni Raina told the closing plenary session of the summit. Nigeria backed India’s stance and termed the finance deal a “joke”. Negotiators from the Least Developed Countries (LDC) group and the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) stormed out of the meeting of the heads of delegation, saying they were being “ignored” during consultations. They are among the very worst impacted by this climate crisis.
Adding insult to injury, much of the funding will not come from governments but from sharks like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund with all the usual conditions attached. Developing countries spend more of their budgets on maintaining the status quo repairing damaged roads and bridges, rehousing flood victims, leaving less to provide basic services without going further into debt. The real beneficiaries are private contractors in developed countries who are brought in to build climate-resilient infrastructure.
Climate change is here now. Climate is already a matter of life and death for millions of people. Pacific Island coast lines are receding. Extreme weather is already costing vulnerable island nations US$100 to US$500 billion in damage each year. It is estimated that it will rise to US$1 trillion annually by 2030.
2024 is on track to be the hottest on record after an extended streak of exceptionally high monthly global mean temperatures, according to the World Meteorological Organization. Developing nations are experiencing disproportionate suffering and loss. They are the most vulnerable to climate change. Millions are going hungry in southern Africa following an unprecedented drought that devastated crops. Zimbabwe lost 80 per cent of its crops, Zambia 70 per cent. In 2022, catastrophic floods in Pakistan forced almost 8 million people to leave their homes and forced another 20 million to seek immediate humanitarian aid.
Europe, the fastest-warming continent, has experienced record flooding in the east. Record flooding in parts of Asia and Europe is outpacing predictions. Unprecedented bushfires, drought, floods and heatwaves are happening in different parts of Australia.
As a report from the Grantham Research Institute says, “Humanity is at a crossroads – a moment of great risk and great opportunity. One path leads to attractive growth and development; the other to great difficulties and destruction. As shown by each successive report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, climate change is occurring at a faster pace than previously anticipated, the impacts and damage are greater than foreseen, and the time for remedial action is rapidly narrowing.”
The Australian government must stop approving new fossil fuel projects and accelerate the transition to renewables.
