Fredrick Njehu, Senior Africa Policy Advisor at Tearfund, said:
“This COP has been a misspent fortnight after a year of stalling and backtracking on climate commitments.
At a summit held on African soil - home to some of the most climate-vulnerable communities in the world - stories of suffering have been many, but real signs of progress have been few. We’ve seen small steps when what we need are giant strides.
The main glimmer of hope can be found in the last-minute agreement to set up a fund for loss and damage - even if there are no significant new pledges of money.
But on the vital issue of climate finance, the final text does little more than recognise the ongoing failure to deliver the long-overdue $100 billion. Apologies will not protect people from flooding and drought. And the omission of a call to phase out all fossil fuels is a colossal failure and evidence of the fossil fuel industry’s grubby fingers at these talks.
We need so much more if we’re to see justice for people living in poverty across the world, who are the ones counting the cost of inaction as a result of a crisis they didn’t cause. It’s deadly to stand still in the face of a rising tide.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
Tearfund is a Christian charity that partners with churches in more than 50 of the world’s poorest countries. We tackle poverty through sustainable development, responding to disasters and challenging injustice. We believe an end to extreme poverty is possible. Tearfund is also a member of the Disasters Emergency Committee. For more information about the work of Tearfund, please visit www.tearfund.org.
