Veep Usi in Baku for climate summit
Vice-President Michael Usiis in Baku, Azerbaijan for the 29th United Nations Conference on Climate Change (CoP-29) which opened on Monday and will close on November 22 2024.
On arrival at Heyder Aliyev International Airport, he was welcomed by Deputy Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Janet Banda, Senior Counsel and Secretary in the Office of the Vice-President Luckie Sikwese, among other dignitaries.
From the Azerbaijan government side, Usi was met by Minister of Culture Adil Karimli.
Malawi’s presence is important as it chairs the Least Developed Countries (LCD’s) Climate Group which represents 45 countries and 1.1 billion people.
In a statement released on Saturday ahead of the summit, LDC Climate Group chairperson Evans Njewa, who is chief environmental officer and head of Climate Change and UNFCCC Focal Point for the Government of Malawi, said the LDC Group demands scaled up, new, additional, and easily accessible climate finance at the meeting.
He said: “We will demand finance that meets the unique needs of our vulnerable communities, and is delivered as grants, not loans.
“For too long, debt burdens have crippled our economies and deepened our vulnerabilities.”
Through partial cost estimates, the LDCs alone are in need of at least $1 trillion by 2030 to implement our Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
“A failure to conclude CoP29 without a bold new finance goal would be a tragic disservice to both the planet and vulnerable populations,” said Njewa.
This year alone, severe flooding and landslides devastated lives and property across Nepal, Chad, Ethiopia, Bangladesh and more.
He said CoP29 must also finalise the remaining rules on carbon markets, ensuring the market mechanisms support emissions reductions and don’t compromise environmental integrity.
Meanwhile, Malawi’s civil society organisations on climate change have called on world leaders at the summit to prioritise climate justice.
The organisations, including the National Youth Network for Climate Change, Oxfam, Concern Worldwide and Civil Society Network on Climate Change (Cisonecc) echoed this on Saturday in Blantyre at the beginning of a Malawi Climate Change Cycling Caravan to Lilongwe under the theme: ‘Cycling for Climate Justice’.
Cisonecc board member, Melton Luhanga, said communities in African countries like Malawi contributed the least to the climate crisis, but they are more vulnerable to climatic shocks that worsen poverty.
“It is high time for CoP29 to adopt and implement adaptation and loss and damage funds, among other interventions to help African countries such as Malawi at the frontline of the crisis to build resilience.
Currently, about 30 cyclists are taking part in the 363-kilometre caravan meant for those affected by climate change to be heard with stopovers in Balaka, Ntcheu and Dedza. n
Additional reporting by
TEMWA MHONE, Contributor