This weekly round-up brings you key climate news from the past seven days, including a disappointing COP29’s final deal and a new study on conflict- and climate-related internal displacement in Africa.
—
1. COP29 $300 Billion Climate Finance Pledge an ‘Insult’, Say Developing Nations, Campaigners
The deal was reached in the early hours of Sunday, far past the scheduled end of COP29 on Friday. More than 50,000 people attended the two-week summit in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku, including 80 world leaders and at least 1,773 fossil fuel lobbyists.
The money will come from a variety of sources, including public and private finance as well as bilateral and multilateral deals. The text also “encourages” developing countries like China to contribute, albeit on a voluntary basis.
It will replace the existing goal to mobilize $100 billion per year by 2020 for developing countries, which was proposed at COP15 in 2009 but not met until 2022.
But Global South negotiators said Sunday’s deal was a “joke” and “insultingly low.” They had been pushing for “trillions, not billions” throughout the summit and mainly grant-based money that would not have to be paid back as many developing countries are already heavily burdened by debt from previous development assistance.
You might also like: COP29 Week 1 recap and COP29 Week 2 recap.
2. Air Pollution From Wildfires Kills 1.5 Million Annually, Over 90% in Developing Countries: Study
Air pollution caused by wildfires is attributable to more than 1.5 million deaths a year globally, albeit with significant geographical and socioeconomic disparities, a new major study has found.
PM2.5, one of the most common and harmful components of air pollution, was linked to some 77.6% of the estimated 1.53 million annual deaths from fire-related pollution, while ozone accounted for 22.4%.
Low- and middle-income countries are disproportionately affected, accounting for over 90% of all attributable deaths with major hotspots in southeast Asia, south Asia, east Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. The latter alone accounted for nearly 40% of all deaths.
3. Floods and Droughts Driving Increasing Displacement in Africa: Report
According to data compiled by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), floods accounted for more than three-quarters of all disaster-related displacements – which last year reached 6.3 million. In 2009, the number of people internally displaced by a disaster was 1.1 million.
Conflict remains the number one driver behind Africa’s 35 million internally displaced people, affecting nine out of 10 people.
Conflict displacements remain highly concentrated, with 80% happening in just five countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Somalia and Sudan. The latter is suffering the world’s largest and most protracted internal displacement crisis, with some 9.1 million people living in displacement at the end of 2023.
Displacement rates have also risen sharply in Mozambique and border areas between Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, where new conflicts have broken out.
4. Environmental Crimes in the Amazon Region Often Have Financial Ties to the US, Report Finds
A new report by the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition looking at 230 environmental crimes in countries in the Amazon region provides new insights into how environmental crimes such as illegal mining, logging, and wildlife trafficking are being committed and how their associated profits are being laundered.
The report, published last month, found that the US was the most commonly involved foreign destination for both illegally-sourced natural resources – including gold – as well as for illicit proceeds from their sale.
This builds on earlier research by FACT that found that the US has been a safe haven for illicit financial flows from environmental crimes due to lax anti money laundering requirements. In July, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen noted that international environmental crimes “often entail misusing and abusing the U.S. financial system.”
