By External Source
Nov 14 2022 (IPS-Partners)
Where do people go when their homes are washed away?
In the 12 months since COP26, half of Lokkhi Mondol’s house has gone underwater.
Millions of people in coastal Bangladesh are living on borrowed time, as sea level rises and rivers swallow land.
COP27 must deliver urgent climate action – the world’s future depends on it.
Source: BRAC
By External Source
Nov 14 2022 (IPS-Partners)
As COP27 ramps up, come with BRAC’s ED Asif Saleh to the frontline of the climate crisis in southern Bangladesh – where homes are now going underwater every day.
We need climate action that gets to the ground, now.
Source: BRAC
UN Resident Coordinator on his SDGs outreach discussing Goal 13 with boat owners in Tombo, a coastal fishing community not far from Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. Credit: RCO Sierra Leone
By Babatunde A. Ahonsi
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone, Nov 14 2022 – Sierra Leone is among the 10 percent of countries in the world that are most vulnerable to the adverse consequences of climate change, and presently one of the least able to cope with the effects.
Unpredictable weather patterns, severe flooding, mudslides, and associated crop failures are becoming more frequent even as the country is witnessing trees being cut down at a faster rate than being planted.
And climate scientists tell us that if the world does not achieve a sharp drop in global warming in the next eight years, the natural calamities that we have seen in recent times around the world will be child’s play compared to what is to come.
COP27, the 27th Conference of State Parties, taking place in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt is the annual gathering by the United Nations of governments, scientists, and other key stakeholders from all countries of the world to review progress in efforts to avert environmental catastrophe, against commitments contained in global climate action agreements.
Africa, the global region which has contributed the least to the ongoing climate crisis, has experienced some of the worst losses and damages attributable to human-induced climate change.
So, as the continent hosts this year’s COP, the key preoccupation will be generating a roadmap for the implementation of unfulfilled promises from previous COPs. This is especially in relation to the pending financial pledges made by rich countries to support developing countries like Sierra Leone to lessen the impact of and adapt to climate change.
A bird’s eye view of Lumley beach, Aberdeen community in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Credit: RCO Sierra Leone
The point must be made that the issue of fulfilling climate finance obligations of high-income countries to developing countries is far less a matter of aid dependency than of climate justice.
There will justifiably be a significant push for increased funding for adaptation and resilience projects in low- and lower-middle-income countries to generate positive impacts towards economic growth, social progress, and enhanced resilience to climate change.
A specific demand will be for wealthier countries to make good on their $100 billion annual climate finance commitment and on the doubling of adaptation support to $40 billion by 2025 agreed to in Glasgow last year during COP26.
Among the other concrete proposals to be strongly canvassed at COP27 is the establishment and activation within the next five years of an early warning system for climate emergencies that would cover the whole world.
Another is a pipeline of bankable climate-smart projects (around 400) in areas such as agriculture, energy, transportation, digital technologies and platforms, and organic products. There will also be much attention to decisions and actions, especially financing, to address ‘loss and damage’ that are beyond countries’ abilities to cope with.
Sierra Leone, like many developing countries, is today beset by a multi-faceted crisis of food insecurity, near-debt distress, galloping cost of living, and energy deficit which may be limiting attention to the clear and present danger posed by the climate crisis to humanity.
But, given that the prevailing challenges cannot be addressed with presently available development finance and usual ways of doing things, now is the time for the country to maximally exploit opportunities to benefit from innovative climate finance and sustainability solutions.
There must be a shift in policy mindset towards integrated approaches that simultaneously address two or more issues related to livelihoods, employment generation, human capital development, public health, environmental protection, gender equality, food security, and energy access.
One simple example is solar energy interventions that directly link with improved agro-processing operations, potable water sources, health care delivery, and Internet connectivity for secondary schools in targeted districts.
Even more innovative and ambitious nature-positive examples of integrated sustainable development solutions will be highlighted, discussed, and promoted at COP27.
As the top UN leader in Sierra Leone, a key part of my role has been to bring together a diverse set of stakeholders including the national authorities, international organizations and partners from across civil society to advance dialogue on climate action and map out the country’s shared goals ahead COP27.
Earlier last month, I convened a Climate Action Dialogue together with the Government of Sierra Leone, the UK High Commission and the European Union to strengthen the participation and enhance the coordination of Sierra Leone’s high-level delegation to COP27.
This Dialogue was born out of discussions I had with the British Government – who held the Presidency of the previous UN Climate Conference- COP26 in Glasgow last year.
Building on the momentum from Glasgow, I carried on these discussions with the British Government and European Union this year to develop a diverse program of speakers for the Climate Action Dialogue, which highlighted key priorities and potential actions for the private sector, NGOs, development partners, and government.
By convening these top authorities in Sierra Leone together, this Dialogue helped focus efforts on the concrete ways Sierra Leone could leverage its impressive natural assets (including forests, agricultural assets, water resources, biodiversity, and solar endowment) to generate access to climate finance and advance nature-based solutions for driving its economic recovery and long-term development plan.
The Dialogue also provided an important platform for stakeholders to discuss how Sierra Leone could benefit more from global climate funds. Ahead of this engagement, my team at the Resident Coordinator’s Office prepared a Climate Action Partnerships Brief that was provided to all attendees.
It was clear from these open discussions and constructive exchanges that Sierra Leone’s rich natural resources could be better used to leverage the finance and technologies the country needs for inclusive, green, and sustainable economic growth, rather than exporting key resources cheaply as primary products.
Discussions are now underway between the three hosting development partners- the UN, UK, and EU- to plan follow-up events which delve deeper into specific areas of Sierra Leone’s climate commitments.
It is our hope that Sierra Leone’s participation in COP27 (which concludes November 18) will help to fast-track implementation of the crucial next steps agreed at the Dialogue related to climate finance models, and prompt the rapid scaling up of ongoing climate-smart projects around the country.
This includes forest conservation, solar and hydro energy generation and distribution, fisheries and coastal management, and agriculture and agro-processing. It should also strengthen commitment to deliver on the promise the country has made to end deforestation by 2030.
As with the rest of the world, climate change is affecting every aspect of the Sierra Leonean economy and society. COP27 will therefore also serve to underline for everyone the fact that urgent climate action is not the responsibility of government alone.
So, we encourage delegates to the Conference, not only from government, but also from civil society organizations, the private sector, mass media, international development agencies, and higher educational institutions, to return to the country with renewed commitment and ambition to join hands to pursue urgent climate actions and engage fully on climate finance.
Only in this way, can the country truly address the climate crisis in a manner that safeguards national environmental resources, builds resilience to climate-related shocks, and advances sustainable development that leaves no one behind.
Babatunde A. Ahonsi is UN Resident Coordinator in Sierra Leone.
Source: UN Sustainable Development Group
IPS UN Bureau
A flooded village in Matiari, in the Sindh province of Pakistan. Credit: UNICEF/Asad Zaidi
By Mariz Tadros
BRIGHTON, UK, Nov 14 2022 – Climate change reductionism – assuming the causes and the redress for those suffering the worst impacts of extreme weather lies with climate change alone – undermines the rights of religiously marginalised persons, but broadening whose rights are being advocated for in climate change can offer redress.
As COP27 negotiations continue, we must be alive to the widespread discrimination behind why some face more devastation than others, and pursue climate justice policies sensitive to the religiously marginalised and to the freedom of religion or belief (Forb).
Climate change and religion
In response to the devastating floods in Pakistan, a top political leader in the Sindh province of Pakistan attributed the destruction caused as a punishment by God, and added that the situation will improve if the people turn away from their sins.
This is just one example of how across the globe now power holders are weaponising religion to cover up unaccountable governance. But power holders’ use of religion to cover up for their failures only worsens the situation for the vulnerable, many of whom happen to be religious minorities.
Sindh province has one of the largest concentrations of people living in extreme poverty in Pakistan, and one of the highest religious minority populations (Hindu and Christian), in the country. This religious minority population also happen to be among the poorest, especially since they belong to the scheduled castes.
Secretary-General António Guterres (right, back to camera) along with Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan visit the National Flood Response and Coordination Centre in Islamabad. Credit: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
Like other Pakistanis in Sindh, the religiously marginalised poor have lost everything due to the unprecedented monsoon floods but they experience an added vulnerability: systemic discrimination on account of their religious identity.
This is manifest in their exclusion from large scale poverty alleviation programmes as found in recent research. This underlying vulnerability and discrimination is why it is wrong to attribute the devastation that religiously ‘otherised’ people experience in the face of natural disasters to climate change alone.
Climate change reductionism
A recent report by the UK’s International Development Committee argues that climate change is also a driver of religious discrimination and mass atrocities because of competition to control natural resources and wealth in conditions of scarcity.
The recognition the report gives to the interconnections between environmental, political, economic and social phenomena is very much welcome, but attributing the causes of atrocities or religious cleansing to climate change alone is anathema to the protection of persons’ freedom of religion or belief.
Climate change reductionism in this way assumes the causes – and therefore redress – of all evils lie with climate.
As Rigg and Mason suggest, climate science reductionism omits the role that structural factors such as “market forces, discriminatory policies, state corruption and inefficiency, and historical marginality play in people’s lived experience”.
Climate change may in some circumstances accentuate the impact of religious inequalities but we need to press on for accountability of power holders who deliberately exclude and ‘otherise’ those who are different through their discourses, policies and practices.
Religious and cultural beliefs benefiting the environment
In the name of countering climate change, we should also never pit sustainability against inclusivity in development policies and practices. Highlighted by an Amnesty International warning ahead of COP27, there are risks from climate protection strategies that exclude indigenous people, whose norms and beliefs are held sacred, even if it is not termed “religion”.
Research from the Coalition for Religious Equality and Inclusive Development (CREID) showed how the Uganda Wildlife Authority forbade indigenous people access to particular territories containing religious shrines, out of the belief that they were destroying the flora and fauna.
When the Bamba and Bakonjo people of Uganda were allowed to practice some of the religious and customary knowledge, this actually led to greater protection of the biodiversity and integrity of the habitat.
This shows that when people experience intertwining inequalities, including marginalisation based religion or belief, it’s not only that they become vulnerable to prejudice, but opportunities for building resilience to the effects of climate change are missed.
This does not mean that all expressions of people’s religious practices or beliefs are conducive to preserving the environment, we know this is not the case. However, another example can be found in the Middle East where extreme weather events have wreaked havoc on crops.
Here, the Copts – the largest religious minority in the region – have developed a system of how the land is to be harvested to remove social stigma and make sure that no one – Muslim or Copt- goes without.
While we know a multitude of measures are needed to minimize the impact of climate change on crops, the benefits of adapting the knowledge and heritage practices of those whose religious heritage has been side-lined are for everyone- not just the members of the religious minority.
So, whether it is powerful leaders wrongly weaponizing religion in order to avoid accountability and when climate change-related disasters strike, discrimination against religious minorities driving greater vulnerability to its impacts, or beliefs and knowledges of the land – prejudice against the religiously marginalized actually has a great deal to do with climate change.
Therefore, during this month’s COP27 climate summit (which concludes November 18) , freedom of religion or belief must be considered in policies to redress climate inequalities if we are serious about going beyond climate change reductionism and truly advancing climate justice.
Professor Mariz Tadros is Research Fellow at Institute of Development Studies (IDS) and Director of CREID
IPS UN Bureau