Negotiators and activists from Africa say there has been very little positive progress at COP29 as well as a worrying focus on false solutions.
As the COP29 climate talks in Azerbaijan enter their second week, the theme of the first has been one of slow progress and frustration, according to many participants from Africa.
Dubbed the "finance COP", the main focus of this year's negotiations has been the new climate finance goal, known as the New Collective Quantified Goals (NCGQ). Developing countries want the Global North to commit to mobilising $1.3 trillion per year by 2030, and for this sum to be reviewed based on evolving needs. This sum would replace the existing $100 billion per year commitment. However, the first half of the COP29 has yielded barely any progress on this front. Climate experts and negotiators from the Global South are getting increasingly impatient and agitated.
"This has been the worst first week of a COP in my 15 years attending these summits," says Mohamed Adow, the director and founder of energy think tank, Power Shift Africa. "There is no clarity on the finance goal, the quality of the finance, or how it's going to be made accessible to vulnerable countries."
In an open letter, an influential group of leaders including former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon together, former COP heads, and prominent climate experts decried the process. "It is now clear that the Cop is no longer fit for purpose. We need a shift from negotiation to implementation," they wrote.
For now, though, negotiators from developing countries are cooped up meeting rooms determined to push for their needs.
"The Global North should pay for their climate damages," says Professor Isaac Kalonda, a negotiator from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. "We are tired of them playing all games. They need to pay for their climate catastrophes, and it should be based on our needs."
The biggest obstacle, African negotiators say, is countries from the Global North trying to "redefine the commitments and the obligations" of the Paris Agreement.
So far, three draft texts at COP29 have been rejected by the negotiators from Africa. The first two, they said, were "imbalanced" and unfair in a way that "does not align with the needs of vulnerable countries". They also objected to their heavy emphasis on private-sector financing without "clear assurances for direct public finance contributions".
"Private finance often comes with terms that are less favourable for low-income countries, including conditions that can lead to debt accumulation", read a joint statement by the African Group of Negotiators (AGN). "Our stance is that developed countries should first fulfil their obligations for public climate finance."
Fadhel Kaboub, President of the Global Institute for Sustainable Prosperity, warns that relying on the private sector will pressure African governments into negotiating unfavourable deals with multinational corporations for investment.
"Climate debt is a responsibility of the Global North who have to tax and regulate the private sector in their own jurisdiction to raise the financial and technological resources that would then be transferred to the Global South," he says. "Funds should be predictable, concessional, and accessible."
The latest draft text has elicited mixed reactions. Ali Mohamed, Chair of the AGN, says that while some progress has been made, the first week of COP29 "raises significant risks" as they move into week two. He stresses that the final agreement on the NCQG should prioritise adaptation with meaningful outcomes that address the unique challenges facing Africa. This is "no longer an option" but a "necessity", he adds.
"We are not here to secure just any deal, but one that ensures the most vulnerable nations receive the support they need to cope with and mitigate climate impacts," he says. "We need a deal that addresses finance, technology transfer, loss, and damage and ensures robust accountability for the promises made".
Civil society organisations have made their own demands too. They fear that COP29 has been hijacked by fossil fuel lobbyists, 1,700 of whom are attending the talks. They also note that the hosts of the past two COPs -- Azerbaijan and the UAE -- are petrostates with poor human rights records. In a petition to African negotiators, thousands of activists have demanded investments in renewable energies, the end of fossil fuel use, and that fossil fuel producers pay for climate damages.
"This petition represents the voices of thousands of Africans who are already experiencing the devastating impacts of climate change," says Murtala Touray, Programme Director at Greenpeace Africa. "We are calling on our negotiators to stand firm in demanding that fossil fuel companies to pay their fair share for the damage they've caused to our communities and environment."
Makoma Lekalakala, Executive Director of Earth Life Africa in South Africa, accuses oil and gas firms of "stripping Africans of their dignity" by uprooting communities from their ancestral homes and destroying their livelihoods.
Despite these pushbacks, fossil fuel lobbyists remain a loud voice at COP29. For instance, the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), a coalition of 21 gas exporting and consuming countries, continues to advocate for the fossil fuel, saying "Africa needs it more than ever".
"Why should the West dictate what Africa needs?" asked Mohammed Amid Naderian, GECF Head of Economics and Forecasting Department. Abubakar Jibrin Abbas, GECF Senior Energy Forecast Analyst, added "fossil fuels are still relevant because it is cheap and Africa is still the least emitter of carbon, which on top of that, is absorbed by the forest".
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Many African climate experts have argued against these suggestions, pointing out that the continent's own climate movement vehemently opposes fossil fuels and that renewable energies can provide the energy Africa needs many times over.
"Africa's future must be renewable, not fossil-fuelled," says Fred Njehu, Pan-African Political Strategist for Greenpeace Africa. "Our climate negotiators have a historic opportunity at COP29 to champion real sustainable solutions that will protect our communities and ecosystems".
As the first week of the COP29 neared its end, a group of activists from Africa and the Global South gathered to condemn a myriad of "eye-watering false solutions", including fossil fuels, geoengineering, artificial intelligence, and carbon capture storage. They described such ideas as "colonial extractive tactics" used to hoodwink developing countries. They also cautioned against framing carbon trading as a form of climate finance, saying it only diverts attention from the direct financial needs that developed countries must pay vulnerable countries.
"Not all that glitters is green," says Dean Bhebhe, senior Just Transitions and Campaign Advisor at Power Shift Africa. "Energy transition is cheaper than climate catastrophe - and we are here to fight it".
John Okot is a freelance journalist based in Gulu, northern Uganda.
