Countries hit by conflict cannot continue to be overlooked by climate action and finance, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the African Development Bank have warned.
At a high-level event on the sidelines of COP26 on Thursday, governments and partners from development, civil society and humanitarian fields joined the African Development Bank and ICRC to call for greater recognition of the increased vulnerability faced by communities affected by conflict.
Many countries deemed most vulnerable to climate change and least ready to adapt are also mired in conflict. Climate change thus compounds pre-existing, complex, multi-dimensional and evolving drivers of fragility, violence and conflict.
Yet, as speakers during the event highlighted, climate action in conflict-affected states has been weak due to the real or perceived challenges of working in fragile settings, while climate finance has also been sorely lacking. The consequence is that the most vulnerable are also the least supported to adapt to the devastating consequences of climate change.
ICRC's Director for Africa, Patrick Youssef, said: "Unless strong efforts are made to bolster climate action and finance in conflict-affected states, the world's most vulnerable will only fall further behind.
"If the gap continues to widen, the humanitarian needs stemming from climate shocks will become more profound and more costly. This will in-turn place a greater burden upon humanitarian organisations and their donors. It's imperative that the international community urgently addresses this imbalance," Youssef added.
There is a significant disparity between the provision of funding to stable middle-income countries and the world's least developed countries, many of which are affected by conflict.
Despite the commitment made in the Paris Agreement to increase support for such countries, between 2016 and 2018, they only received some 14 per cent of the total climate funding recorded by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), with nearly 70 per cent of all climate finance provided to middle-income countries.
In addition, adaptation funding - critical in most countries enduring conflict - still substantially trails mitigation funding. COP26 is a pivotal moment to acknowledge the disparity in climate action and funding between countries and to develop solutions.
Al Hamndou Dorsouma, Acting Director Climate Change and Green Growth Department of the African Development Bank said: "We are witnessing an increase in inequalities and vulnerabilities perpetuated by climate change, which undermines inclusive and sustainable growth trajectories of countries affected by fragility, conflict and violence. Climate finance needs to be scaled up and reach the bottom of the pyramid communities, especially women and youth, to enhance community resilience."
The ICRC, African Development Bank and several other multilateral development banks, humanitarian organisations and research institutions have joined forces to explore avenues to strengthen climate action, and notably access to climate finance in conflict settings.
In October 2021, this alliance organised a first expert roundtable on addressing obstacles to climate finance in places enduring conflict or fragility. The event held today echoed this conversation with the aim of developing a set of proposals to unlock climate finance in fragile and transition contexts.
"Moving forward, it is critical to ensure that countries experiencing conflict, and in particular the most vulnerable people within these countries, are adequately supported to adapt to the effects of climate change," added Youssef.
On the occasion of the joint AfDB-ICRC organized COP26 side-event, Yero Baldeh, Director, Transition States Coordination Office at the African Development Bank, said: "Building on today's session, we look forward to further expand the strategic partnerships with governments, actors in the humanitarian-development-peace nexus, and the private sector to bolster climate resilience in communities affected by fragility and conflict on the African continent. Together, this will also contribute to conflict prevention and resolution."
Within their institutional mandates and priorities, the African Development Bank and the International Committee of the Red Cross are working very closely together to achieve synergies and complementarities in fragile contexts on the African continent. For example, and building on a 2019 Letter of Intent, both institutions are already collaborating on women economic empowerment in the Sahel (Niger, Mali and Chad) and the partnership is continuously evolving.
