Kofi Annan
December 02, 2011
For smallholder farmers, climate change is no future threat. It is happening now. As I learnt on a recent visit to Mali, a smallholder farmer, Issa, talked to me about how his farming methods have been affected by the unusual changes in the patterns of rainfall in his district. The rains on which farmers depend are starting later and finishing earlier.
A similar worrying story of farmers facing more uncertain conditions is being heard in many areas on our continent. The worst, however, is yet to come.
Scientists warn that temperatures could exceed the maximum which major staple crops will tolerate. Rainy seasons will become even shorter and more erratic, seriously worsening Africa’s already grave food crisis.
Given these changes and the scientific consensus over what will happen, Mali’s farmers struggle to understand why so little had been done to tackle climate change even though they amazingly managed to rise up to the challenges.
This local knowledge and wisdom must guide those in power to work towards a more balanced and sustainable world. I share their frustration. We are witnessing an abject failure of leadership which, unless urgently repaired, will leave a terrible legacy for future generations.
This is why the climate conference underway in Durban is so important. Durban sadly might not see the universal agreement we need to limit greenhouse gas emissions to the level required to hold temperatures rises to below 2°C.
But it must build momentum towards a fair and inclusive agreement both to cut emissions and to help protect communities from the impact of climate change already underway.
Putting in place proper climate finance is critical to these goals. Progress is being made in designing the Green Climate Fund, which must be launched at Durban. Yet, to become an effective tool that can meet the needs of Africa and other poor countries, the Fund must meet two challenges.
First, wealthy countries must not be allowed to break their promises to the most vulnerable on the planet who have not caused climate change. The $100 billion of commitments made in Cancun last year need to be delivered.
To this end, the Green Climate Fund must receive sustained and predictable funding in the range of several tens of billions of dollars per year.
In spite of their promises, wealthy countries are unlikely to provide adequate and predictable multi-year funding for the Green Climate Fund from their national budgets. This is why I support innovative financing solutions, such as a fair maritime bunker fuel tax, a levy on airline tickets, or the Financial Transaction Tax.
Each of these mechanisms can provide the long-term funding needed to support climate finance.
The solutions to be implemented are to be implemented with labor. If the poor countries finance this with money from the wealthy countries, that money will again cripple and colonize the poor countries. In SMALL doses, foreign money can be beneficial. In large doses it is poisonous.
Climate degradation is mostly a water issue, and the poor nations are not guiltless in that. Their rivers and lakes are clogged with weeds both domestic and foreign, and do not generate “lake effect” rains anymore. The silt the weeds drop covers aquifer recharge zones, and the ground water runs out.