As extreme weather events drive up the costs of climate response, mitigation, and adaptation, the Azerbaijan Climate Summit, beginning Monday, will focus on establishing an ambitious new global climate finance target.
The climate science and practice lead at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Zinta Zommers emphasized that this year’s summit, known informally as the “climate finance COP,” will push countries to step up their funding commitments.
“This is the climate finance COP,” Zommers said, highlighting that developed nations had committed to providing $100 billion annually for climate action in vulnerable countries back in 2009.
“As climate impacts and greenhouse gases increase, it’s clear that more finance is needed.”
In West and Central Africa alone, over 7 million people across 16 countries have faced devastating floods this year, worsened by human-driven climate change.
Seasonal downpours in the Niger and Lake Chad basins were intensified by 5-20 percent, according to scientists, causing widespread flooding in Sudan, Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, and Chad.
The UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund allocated $38 million for immediate action, but Zommers noted that estimates indicate a need for over $4 trillion annually to sufficiently mitigate, adapt, and respond to the growing climate crisis.
The summit, however, faces key unresolved questions on the mechanics of climate finance: who will pay, how much, and for what.
Developing countries argue that wealthier nations, responsible for the bulk of greenhouse gas emissions, should bear the larger share of climate costs.
As the Azerbaijan summit unfolds, the pressure is on to close this funding gap and accelerate global climate action.
