On Friday morning, 16 August, the Ministry of Land and Environment (MTA) organised a meeting in Maputo to prepare Mozambique’s participation in the 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), to be held from 11 to 22 November in Baku, Azerbaijan.
On the occasion, the MTA’s permanent secretary, Emília Fumo, said that ‘from COP28 to now, progress has not been very encouraging, considering that the results achieved to date are only promises, insofar as the implementation mechanisms, especially the financial ones, have proved to be far short of the real needs to adapt to the phenomena associated with climate change’.
The source emphasised that the discussions on the new quantified collective climate finance target have not made significant progress and present an impasse between the developed and least developed countries.
Emília Fumo
‘Our understanding is that in order to ensure alignment with the COP29 objectives, it is crucial to develop new indicators specifically tailored to tracking finance,’ he said, emphasising: ’the indicators must be able to measure the actual flow of funds, differentiate grants from loans and assess the impact of financial support on adaptive capacity and resilience.
Regarding adaptation, it is our expectation that COP29 will urge parties to step up their adaptation efforts in line with the needs to achieve the Paris Agreement’s goal of capacity building, rehabilitation, recovery, reconstruction, displacement, planned resettlement and immigration in the context of climate change impacts.’
‘By ratifying the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, we reaffirm our determination to fulfil the commitments made and hope that, in Baku, the parties will overcome differences and deadlock to ensure that everyone achieves the highest climate ambition, reflecting equity and common responsibility, according to the capacity and circumstances of each country,’ explained Emília Fumo.
Séverine de Potter
For her part, the head of Belgium’s diplomatic mission, Séverine de Potter, expressed her government’s willingness to support Mozambique’s participation in COP29. ‘We would like to emphasise our willingness to also support Mozambique’s delegation to participate in COP29.
Our support depends on a structured dialogue and cooperation with the government. The working group needs to have a list of participants that the Executive wants to be part of COP29.
For each participant, the working group needs to know their name and ministry, organisation, duration and purpose. This list must be available by 15 September. ‘We would like to take this opportunity to encourage the government to include the private sector and civil society on the list,’ he said.
For João Frade, vice-president of the Land and Environment department at the Confederation of Economic Associations (CTA), ‘it is clear that more concrete and effective adaptation and climate risk management actions are needed, which are capable of producing results in the short term, and which are also geared towards the private sector.
Only in this way will it be possible to achieve the desired comprehensive and inclusive sustainable development. It is in the private sector’s interest to create a favourable environment that facilitates and increases its participation in projects that promote the green economy, renewable energies, sustainable agriculture and resilient infrastructures.’
João Frade
The meeting was attended by representatives of public, academic and research institutions, financial institutions, the private sector, cooperation partners, civil society and non-governmental organisations, among other entities whose initiatives contribute to increasing climate ambition.
