Developed nations have been urged to contribute more to climate mitigation funds as part of their effort to support developing nations who are severely hit by the challenges of climate change.
The Overseas Development Institute (ODI) who made the call in its latest report explained that developing nations such as Nigeria are already and will continue to be the worst hit by a changing climate if the international community fails to institute a sufficient scale of financing or mechanism that will help these countries strengthen resilience and enhance their adaptation capabilities.
“The United States and Europe, combined, account for nearly half of the global carbon emission that are fueling climate change. However, they also have the financial resources to lessen these impacts that are felt among their domestic populations,” the report states, adding that this cannot be said of their developing counterparts where governments are far too impoverished to execute both tasks.
“The most common problem in these developing countries is the disruption to agriculture, which not only supplies food for these countries, but is also many families’ sole source of income,” the report adds.
For instance, in Nigeria, food security is presently at risk as the destructive impact of climate change is threatening farmers in the Northern part of the country, some of whom have shifted from farming to livestock production, an earlier investigation into climate change impact on farming has showed.
Likewise, in Ethiopoa, Tanzania, and Uganda, the governments are not financially constrained to devote funds to combating climate change. In the meantime, these countries are experiencing disasters that are making it more difficult to survive.
According to the report, “as climate change worsens and droughts become more severe, food has become more scarce and funds dried up with the crops, hence, compelling governments of developing nations to choose between sustaining their populations with emergency assistance, or combating climate change.
However, this is a mismatch from scenarios in developed economies where governments are always financially equipped to simultaneously abate any impact of climate change and poverty in its system, even though they are responsible for a large portion of the emissions that are exacerbating the problems.
The United Nations has already called on 125 countries to help contribute to a $15 billion fund to help impoverished nations battle the threats from climate change – threats that can be partially blamed on the emissions-heavy countries in the West.
