Finance
As part of its commitment on speeding global efforts to make fragile and conflict-affected nations and people more resilient to the impacts of climate change, the COP28 Presidency formally revealed endorsements of its COP28 UAE Declaration on Climate, Relief, Recovery, and Peace on Sunday.
The declaration, which has already received the support of 70 governments and 39 organizations, enshrines a global commitment to expand investment and activities to create resilience in nations and communities affected by conflict, instability, or a humanitarian catastrophe.
Commenting on the declaration, Ambassador Al Suwaidi, COP28 Director-General said, “Climate change impacts everybody, but we are not all being affected equally. In fragile and conflict-affected settings, extreme weather events affect three times as many people annually compared to other countries. Despite this, people living in extremely fragile states receive a fraction — up to 80 times less — of climate finance compared to those in non-fragile states. The COP28 Presidency is committed to driving action and consensus to change this.”
On the same day, a ‘Getting Ahead of Disasters Charter’ was launched, outlining principles for joint action to control climate-related risks and safeguard vulnerable populations. The declaration and charter are both part of a series of actions being undertaken at the UN Climate Change Conference to accelerate global resilience efforts.
The UAE, IGAD, and the UN hosted presidents of countries in the Horn of Africa to introduce their regional climate security strategy, and the COP28 Presidency collaborated with the UN Secretary-General to mobilize new support for ‘Early Warnings for All,’ the initiative to cover 100% of the globe with early warning systems by 2027.
As part of the COP28 Presidency’s attempts to focus worldwide audiences on defending communities from the challenges of climate change, December 3 was also dedicated to health.
As a result, the day also included the first-ever Climate and Health Ministerial at a COP, which brought together Ministers of Health and senior health officials from over 100 countries.
The ministerial helped rally support for the COP28 Climate and Health Agenda, as well as the ‘COP28 Declaration on Climate and Health,’ which was revealed on December 2 at the World Climate Action Summit.
Over 120 countries supported it, and partners mobilized over $1 billion in climate health funds.
Speaking on the day Ambassador Al Suwaidi noted, “While we build the energy system of tomorrow, we cannot ignore the needs of people today. We must rapidly protect and promote their health and well-being while improving the climate-resilience of healthcare systems and reduce climate-health risks.”
‘Protecting Lives and Livelihoods’ is one of four central pillars in the COP28 Presidency’s Action Agenda which focuses on people, nature, lives and livelihoods.
Source:IANS
