Uganda's Tayebwa presses EU for climate finance without more debt
The Deputy Speaker, who leads the OACPS Parliamentary Assembly, wants climate aid for vulnerable states to stop adding to their debt burdens.
Thomas Tayebwa, Uganda's Deputy Speaker of Parliament and president of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) Parliamentary Assembly, told delegates in Brussels that member states must demand climate justice. He said the countries causing most global emissions should bear the cost of addressing climate change.
Tayebwa said OACPS countries together emit, on average, no more than 6% of global emissions, yet face rising sea levels, coastal erosion, drought and hunger. The 65th assembly agreed to put climate finance at the centre of talks with the European Union, which begin on Monday and run until Friday.
Dr James Murombedzi, former head of the Africa Climate Policy Centre at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, said climate finance is dominated by loans. He warned that relying on them risks worsening the debt of countries already hit by climate disasters.
Why it mattersUganda and other OACPS members are seeking climate finance from the EU that does not add to the debt they already carry from climate disasters.