St Andrews – Finance Ministers from G20 countries meeting in Scotland this weekend are being urged to keep the world’s poorest high on their agenda as they discuss how to help developing countries adapt to the disastrous impacts of climate change – and contribute to stemming its rise.
Africa advocacy group ONE has written to the finance ministers with a briefing paper outlining the huge challenges African countries face from erratic weather patterns associated with climate change – and the urgent action they need from the critical climate talks in Copenhagen in one month’s time.
African countries are currently threatening to walk out of preparatory talks in Barcelona because of lack of action on the part of industrialised countries.
“Getting a global climate deal is literally a matter of life and death for millions of people in Africa,” said ONE founder and Executive Director Jamie Drummond.
“We’re now faced with a ticking time bomb: this G20 Finance Ministers’ meeting is a crucial stepping stone towards an agreement that could help the poorest countries adapt to the impacts they are already experiencing, as part of a deal which also sufficiently reduces greenhouse gas emissions.”
Africa only produces 3.6 per cent of total greenhouse gas emissions, yet many countries on the continent stand to be among the first and most seriously affected by climate change. ONE says policy makers must sign a deal in Copenhagen to scale up funding to US$75-100bn* annually, from both public and private sources, to pay for poor countries to adapt to climate change.  Recent research suggests that at least 20% of this figure should go to Africa*. The money must be delivered over and above existing overseas development aid pledges, the group says, and could be generated in innovative ways such as carbon auctioning schemes.
“It’s absolutely vital that money for climate change adaptation is not raided from existing aid budgets,” said ONE’s Jamie Drummond. “The significant development gains of the past decade are already under threat in some countries because of the global economic crisis; the climate crisis comes on top of the ongoing challenge of extreme poverty, so robbing Peter to pay Paul is not the answer.”
“It is already worrying that support for the African Development Bank has not been more prominent at the G20, despite pledges to help Africa fight back against the global economic downturn. It’s even more worrying that there is still little evidence of concrete plans to implement the big promise made by the G8 on agriculture this summer in Italy. These pledges must be kept and money for climate finance must be delivered, or it will multiply the adverse impact of climate change on vulnerable regions like Africa.”
ONE’s briefing paper outlines how African countries can play a dynamic role in reducing the potential extent of climate change. Rich countries must advance technology transfers to developing countries, it says, and funding to help conserve rainforests and plant trees which will help meet global emission reductions.  The Congo Basin forest for example, the second largest tropical forest in the world, plays a major role in regulating local, regional and global climate. Reducing or avoiding deforestation in the Congo Basin could contribute significantly to lowering harmful emissions levels.
ONE is calling on governments to ensure that the benefits of the Reducing Emissions by Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) programme, a scheme that would pay poor countries not to cut down forests, truly flow to those living on the land.
“It’s not just a one way process – African countries can be strong partners in the fight against climate change and contribute to ambitious global mitigation targets,” said ONE’s Jamie Drummond.
“Preserving the continent’s rainforests and introducing innovative farming practices, for example, could help offset global carbon emissions. Africa also has enormous, and as yet untapped, potential to become a valuable generator of renewable energy such as solarthermal and hydropower,” he said.

Notes to editors

• The World Bank estimates the amount needed for adaptation in developing countries to be between $75-100bn annually from 2010 to 2050
• The most recent estimates from the World Bank indicate Africa will need between 20 – 22% of the total annual amount.

For interviews and background briefings please contact Jessica Gomez-Duran on +44 (0)7500 085776 or email [email protected]
There will be a team from ONE in Copenhagen for the COP15 UN Climate Change Conference. Contact details as above.