Senator John Bonds Bideri has urged developing countries to use the 2020 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM 2020) that takes place in Rwanda in June to push developed countries to honour their climate finance commitments made as part of the Paris Agreement.  

Bideri made the proposal on Friday during celebrations to mark Commonwealth Day 2020 at the Parliament. The Paris Agreement, also known as COP 21 was adopted in Paris, France during the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2015. It states that developed countries shall provide financial resources to assist developing countries with respect to both mitigation and adaptation in continuation of their existing obligations under the Convention. According to the agreement, the least developed countries and small island developing states may prepare and communicate strategies, plans and actions for low greenhouse gas emissions development reflecting their special circumstances.

Senator Bideri indicated that some countries are affected by climate change and the coping mechanisms that are in place require hefty sums in funding.

"The developed countries which made up what is called annex one [to the Paris Agreement] committed to provide $100 billion every year from 2016, but we are aware that this commitment is yet to be honored. How can we take advantage of this meeting to really push and ensure that those countries honour their commitments?” Bideri wondered. Declining contribution

According to a report 2019 by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); climate finance provided and mobilised by developed countries for developing countries reached $71.2 billion in 2017, up from $58.6 billion in 2016. The sum is still below the $100bn commitment the developed countries made in the Paris Agreement. Talking about climate change and resilience, the British High Commissioner to Rwanda, Jo Lomas, said that the increasing impact of climate change across and beyond the Commonwealth cannot be ignored. She pointed out that in November, the UK is expected to host the UN climate change summit – COP 26, calling it a crucial moment to hold countries accountable to their commitments and drive a real change, five years on from Paris. "We think that CHOGM is going to be a key milestone in this crucial year. We are going to encourage all Commonwealth members to announce ambitious and refreshed national determined contributions,” she said. She pointed out that the UK supported Commonwealth countries’ access to climate financing such as reducing emissions and building resilience, committing to provide £5.8 bn of new climate finance between 2015 and 2021.