The Local Government and Municipal Authorities Constituency (LGMA) has expressed concern over the fact that a fund that was proposed by developing countries to support their efforts to tackle climate change was rejected at the concluded UN climate conference. LGMA is one of the constituencies of the UNFCCC. The two-week-long COP26 – 26thConference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – was held in Glasgow, Scotland, UK, and ended on November 13, 2021. “LGMA is ready to support implementation in order to accelerate ambitious action to respond to the climate emergency and deliver Paris Agreement,” said Ladislas Ngendahimana, Secretary-General of the Rwanda Association of Local Government Authorities (RALGA). “However, we are disappointed and concerned on the fact that COP26 did not result in a meaningful outcome on loss and damage,” observed Ngendahimana as he delivered the closing statement on behalf of LGMA at COP26 in Glasgow. Ngendahimana told The New Times that the largest emitters of harmful gases into the atmosphere mostly consist of developed countries, yet the developing or poor countries bear the brunt of the resulting consequences of climate change, which include droughts and floods. He said that these developing countries should be compensated for the harm [chiefly] caused by the emissions from the developed ones. “Developing countries had recommended what was called Glasgow climate facility which would be a fund cater for these damages. But, this facility was rejected by these big powers,” he said, adding that developing countries were disappointed with such a result. This facility, he indicated, would be funding climate change adaptation, mitigation, and loss and damage caused by it. The absence of such a facility, he said, means developing countries will struggle to finance efforts to address climate change. He said that currently, most of the climate projects in developing countries are funded through loans gotten from developing countries which contribute largely to damaging the climate. He said that there would be financing mechanisms for the facility suggesting that developed countries that opposed it during the UN deliberations would be the ones to finance it. Available estimates suggest that climate change is costing Africa $7-$15 billion annually and threatens both food security and the use of hydropower, while Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for less than 4 per cent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Though the developed countries are committed to providing $100 billion annually to support climate change adaptation and mitigation among developing ones as stated under the Paris Agreement, Ngendahimana said that the pledge has not yet been fully honoured. As of 2019, $79.6 billion was made available, according to available data. It is to note that a press release issued by UNFCCC states that Parties are encouraged to strengthen their emissions reductions and to align their national climate action pledges with the Paris Agreement that seeks to limit climate change to 1.5 degrees in order to prevent catastrophic consequences of climate change. In addition, it said that the duty to fulfil the pledge of providing 100 billion dollars annually from developed to developing countries was also reaffirmed. Meanwhile, Ngendahimana said that the COP27 which will take place in Africa (in Egypt in 2022) “should consider the aspects of demographic dividend, sustainable Urbanization and adaptation to focus on the role of cities in climate change and how they can finance their green plans. “ Talking about Rwanda, Ngendahimana said that the country “has promoted investments in green economies, green infrastructure and green local government plans with equitable sharing of the available meagre resources for climate finance.”
