COP 29: Sustainable climate financing needed for vulnerable nations, say Catholic relief experts

(OSV News) -- As the United Nations' annual climate conference kicks off, two Catholic humanitarian agency executives told OSV News that the world's poorest nations must be given the tools to adapt to climate change -- without becoming enslaved by international debt.

"Countries and communities (are) in this vicious cycle ... forced to do whatever they need to do in order to get by, because they don't have the fiscal space to invest in those things that communities need, not only for climate resilience, but for development in general," said Gina Castillo, senior climate policy and research adviser for Catholic Relief Services, speaking with OSV News from Baku, Azerbaijan, where COP 29 opened Nov. 11 and continues through Nov. 22.

Named for the “Conference of the Parties” that signed the original 1992 U.N. climate agreement, the COP gatherings are held under the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, which entered into force in 1994 and now counts 198 parties (representing 197 countries plus the European Union).

Key priorities for COP 29 include "securing a new goal on climate finance, ensuring every country has the means to take much stronger climate action, slashing greenhouse gas emissions and building resilient communities," according to the meeting's official website.

In addition, the meeting will assess countries' national climate plans to ensure they are "economy-wide," focus on phasing out fossil fuels, and ensure the world stays on track to limit global warming -- the long-term heating of the Earth's surface due to human activities -- to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, in compliance with the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Castillo, who is attending COP for the third time, said the gathering must focus on "two things" with respect to what is called "climate finance" -- the local, national or transnational funding required for addressing the impact of climate change.

Such financial assistance, through which wealthier nations support those lacking such resources, is called for in the U.N. climate change convention, as well as the Kyoto Protocol (which specifically commits nations to limit their greenhouse gas emissions) and the Paris Agreement.

"We have to have a strong number. The quantum is important," she said. "And then there's part two: the quality of the money that is agreed (upon) matters."

Previously, said Castillo, "a lot of the money that came was given in the form of loans to developing countries" at "commercial interest rates," rather than at concessional, or below-market levels to accommodate such nations' financial circumstances.

"So this increased the debt burden of countries," she said. "We don't want to see that in this new articulation. So the number matters, but then the quality of that number matters. We want to ensure that the number is a public grant, and that it actually goes for mitigation and adaptation."

Castillo also stressed the need to focus on the latter, which she described as "the real priority" for developing countries, especially those heavily dependent upon agriculture.

"At CRS, we work a lot with farmers, with farming communities that are so exposed and vulnerable. Their livelihood depends on the weather," she said.

Among the adaptation strategies for such communities are "investing in drought-tolerant seeds" and "investing in water collection," Castillo said. "Anything that helps them to manage any kind of climate variability, whether it's extreme heat or drought -- reducing the exposure to all these climatic changes and looking to the long-term."

Francis Darius, diocesan coordinator of Caritas Grenada, knows firsthand how climate change and severe weather events can threaten communities for years, creating a spiral of impact that extends beyond financial spreadsheets to the very social fabric of vulnerable nations.

"You're talking about loss of income and capacity, inability to rebuild homes, depression, psychosocial issues -- you name it, and they are confronted with it," he said.

Speaking to OSV News from Grenada, Darius said his nation -- which comprises the three Windward Islands of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique -- depends on the two pillars of agriculture and tourism for its economic development.

"Both of those are fickle areas that are very susceptible to the impact of climate change," said Darius.

Known as the Caribbean's "Spice Island" for its nutmeg, mace and cocoa exports, Grenada has seen its agriculture "impacted tremendously by the changing climatic conditions," he said.

"Stronger and more frequent storms and hurricanes" as well as "deluges over a shorter space of time" have created "enormous problems with flooding, landslides and soil movements," he told OSV News.

Hurricanes Ivan in 2004 and Emily in 2005 devastated the nation's nutmeg industry, with the Grenada Embassy to the U.S. noting on its website that the sector is "not expected to recover in the near-term," although tourism has surged over the years thanks to "substantial increases in foreign direct investment."

Yet in July, Hurricane Beryl "devastated" Grenada, particularly the islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique, leaving many tourism initiatives on the two islands "destroyed or completely compromised, said Darius. "The population depends a lot on those for sustainability and livelihoods."

Carriacou "was just starting, over the last couple of years, to advance economically," said Darius. "Some who left here many years ago were coming back and starting up little businesses. … And that is now totally devastated. It's not starting over now. It's starting from way back beyond where they were (in the first place)."

Darius also lamented the disproportionate effect that human-related climate change has on the world's more vulnerable nations.

"Livelihoods have been swatted left right and center," he said. "The persons most affected do not have the ability to restore themselves to (their) condition prior to such impact."

Both Castillo and Darius stressed the urgency of concretely addressing climate issues, particularly climate financing.

"This is real for families; it's not fancy talk at a high level," said Darius. "Real people face the real situation on a daily basis. And we need the support of everybody to not talk, but to basically put their money where their mouth is. I know many of them have acknowledged the bad practices and the need to change, but it's not changing fast enough."