ActionAid warns second COP draft text is "an alarming step back."
Commenting on the second draft COP29 text, Zahra Hdidou, Senior Climate Resilience Specialist at ActionAid UK, said: “Today’s new draft is a slap in the face to hard-hit countries and threatens to undermine progress on climate finance. As floods and droughts intensify across the Global South, this derisory response not only falls drastically short of the trillions needed to help climate-devastated communities adapt to the escalating crisis – it's an alarming step back.
The new text’s focus on voluntary contributions over binding commitments ignores the historic responsibility of high-emitting nations like the UK, shifting the burden onto those least responsible. It also completely sidesteps the issue of gender, failing to recognise how women and girls are disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis. Climate finance must be rooted in justice, not charity, explicitly exclude loans that deepen debt, and address the systemic inequalities exacerbating the crisis.
We cannot afford to move at a snail’s pace while the planet faces irreversible climate damage. We demand global leaders like the UK return to the drawing board, confront the true scale of the climate crisis, and deliver far more ambitious commitments that match the sheer scale of the crisis.”
ENDS
Contact the ActionAid press office on charlie.ensor@actionaid.org or on 07804494771.
Zahra is available for interview on request. Please contact the press office to arrange.