LDCs account for 1% of GHG emissions but are at forefront of the climate crisis, say ministers
The least developed countries group is made up of 46 countries across Africa, the Asia-Pacific and the Caribbean, with a joint population of over one billion people. Photo: iStock Ministers from the world’s 46 least developed countries (LDC) issued a joint Dakar Declaration on Climate Change 2023 outlining their expectation and priorities for 28th Conference of Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The Dakar Declaration called for urgent global emissions reductions, increased climate finance, a strong outcome operationalising the new Loss and Damage Fund and an ambitious Global Stocktake to close the gaps in global climate action.
The COP28 will be convened from November 30, 2023 to December 12, 2023 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
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While LDCs account for more than 14 per cent of the global population, they only account for about 1 per cent of emissions from fossil fuels and industrial processes, according to the ministers. In addition, the countries bear the least historical responsibility for climate change, are forced to adapt beyond their capabilities and are at the forefront of the climate crisis.
The ministers also emphasised the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Synthesis Report for the Sixth Assessment Reports cycle (IPCC AR6), which show that global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have continued to rise and that global warming is rapidly approaching 1.5°C.
They urged all Parties, particularly major emitters, to reduce GHG emissions urgently and significantly. Parties must also revisit and strengthen the 2030 targets in their NDCs in order to align them with their fair share of the global effort required to limit warming to 1.5°C, they added.
According to the declaration, developed countries must present a clear road map for at least doubling adaptation finance delivered by 2025 through public, grant-based financing. A New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance should provide new and additional resources and should be many times greater than the current $100 billion per year floor, they demanded.
The UNFCCC centralised carbon market mechanism must also be operationalised by 2024, including the recognition of the specific needs and special circumstances of LDCs, as well as the implementation of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement's capacity building programme, according to the declaration.
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The possibilities of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius in accordance with the 2015 Paris Agreement will be out of reach if global production and consumption patterns continue, Senegal’s Minister of Environment Alioune Ndoye said in a statement.
“COP28 is the opportunity to accelerate climate action towards 1.5°C pathways, to meet the needs of the LDCs,” he said.
A successful COP28 will require all countries coming together to commit to deep global emissions reductions, massively scaling up renewable energy and ensuring no one is left behind to address this crisis on their own, said Madeleine Diouf Sarr, Chair of the LDC Group.
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