Maldives calls for higher climate finance goal than USD 100 billion

The Maldives has called on developed countries to set a higher climate finance goal during the upcoming 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) than the USD 100 billion per year agreed in 2015.

The appeal was made by Maldivian Vice President Hussain Mohamed Latheef during his address on Wednesday at the CHOGM Climate Breakfast: Building Consensus for Climate Finance Targets in the Commonwealth in Samoa.

It comes with the COP29 set to begin in Baku, Azerbaijan, on November 11.

In his address, Hussain highlighted on the severe impacts of global warming, which are disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable populations, especially those of the Commonwealth.

“For the Commonwealth, a diverse family of nations, the stakes are particularly high. Many of us are disproportionately vulnerable to climate change,” he said.

He called for a unified response from the Commonwealth to safeguard the future.

“As many countries struggle to meet the commitments under the Paris Agreement, it is essential to mobilize predictable, adequate and sustainable climate finance to support ambitious climate action. Our resounding call for this COP is clear, to agree and conclude on a new collective quantified goal on climate finance,” he said.

Hussain said that vulnerable countries such as the Maldives need a new collective quantified goal on climate finance that exceeds the USD 100 billion dollars per year agreed in 2015 at the COP21.

He said the new goal must include essential sub-goals for loss and damage response, mitigation, and adaptation, and must considers the needs of developing countries, including the special circumstances of Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

“These goals should go hand in hand, with the required changes in the international financial architecture, which does not adequately cater to our development needs,” he said.

Hussain called on the Commonwealth to approach COP29 with ambition, but also a willingness to work together and bridge the gap.

“We cannot afford to leave COP29 without an agreed finance goal,” he said.

Hussain stressed that finance as the lifeblood of effective climate action, but noted that many in the Commonwealth family still face significant barriers in accessing the necessary funds to combat climate change.

“We must recognize and dismantle these barriers,” he said.

Hussain added that this is an area in which the Commonwealth has provided support to the Maldives.

“We have benefited greatly from the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub through the deployment of a Climate Finance Advisor. This initiative has strengthened our capacity to attract climate finance and will play a pivotal role in structuring our Climate Change Fund. We look forward to this continued assistance,” he said.

Looking beyond the COP29, Hussain called on the Commonwealth to bring ambition to the submission of new Nationally Determined Contributions next year.

“We ask members of the Commonwealth family to formulate their NDCs, guided by the first global stocktake. This is our only chance to steer us back towards a 1.5-degree pathway,” he said.

Hussain said that Maldives’ own submission will focus on increasing its current ambition.

The Climate Breakfast was organized by the Commonwealth Secretariat, as part of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) being held at Apia, Samoa.