IT’S ABOUT JUSTICE - Why the Bali Road Map must direct rich countries to take on binding targets to finance adaptation

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Injustice lies at the heart of climate change. Poor women and men in developing countries who are least responsible for causing the crisis are bearing the brunt of impacts, now and into the future. They urgently need support to cope with the new reality they face; and this must come from those historically responsible for the crisis, who have the capacity to pay - rich developed nations.

The Bali Road Map, which will be negotiated over the next two years, is a matter of life and death for tens of millions of poor people around the world. For it to work for those most affected, the Road Map must launch new and ambitious targets for tackling climate change that has equity at its heart – and that means drastically cutting emissions (by at least 25-40% by 2020), and providing sufficient resources for adaptation that reach the poor. This is not a choice but a necessity for poor women and men around the world.

Just as rich countries have obligations to cut their CO2 emissions, they also have a responsibility to provide the finance that poor countries desperately need to adapt to climate impacts. That means mandatory targets for both emission reductions and adaptation financing.

It will cost several tens of billions of dollars each year for developing countries to adapt to climate change. Effective adaptation will depend on additional, adequate and predictable levels of financing. Fifteen years ago, rich countries committed to provide the resources that vulnerable countries need to cope with the impacts of climate change.  But year after year they have failed to deliver – even for the poorest countries in the world.

The Least Developed Countries Fund was set up to meet the most urgent and immediate adaptation priorities of the world’s 49 poorest countries, in particular those most vulnerable and at risk from climate change. Plans have been drawn up and costed at around $1-2bn for the most urgent needs to be implemented. But to date, rich countries have delivered just $67m into the LDC Fund - that’s less than what people in the USA spend on suntan lotion in one month.

It’s clear: voluntary contributions have failed to deliver. They don’t generate funds on the scale needed, and they don’t provide the year-on-year predictability needed for governments to integrate adaptation into national development planning processes.

It is time to recognise that funding for adaptation is not about handouts. It is compensatory finance owed by the richest and highest-polluting nations to the most vulnerable communities and countries that are facing the impacts of climate change – now.

For this commitment to become a reality, the Bali Road Map must include negotiations on binding commitments by developed countries to finance adaptation in developing countries particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change, based on Convention principles of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities and “polluter pays”.

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Supported by:

• CARE International
• Christian Aid
• Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst/Church Development Service
• Focus on the Global South
• Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP)
• HIVOS
• Inter Church Organisation for Development Cooperation (ICCO)
• Norwegian Church Aid
• Oxfam International
• Practical Action
• Tearfund
• Third World Network
• World Council of Churches- Working Group on Climate Change

• Civil Society Forum- Indonesia
• BaliFokus, Indonesia
• Bumi Bakti Persada, Indonesia
• Centre for Environment Research, Indonesia
• Legal Aid for Women/Apik, Indonesia
• Friends of the Earth Indonesia/WALHI
• Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) Indonesia
• Ibeka/Institut Bisnis dan Eknomi Kerakyatan, Indonesia
• Indonesian Biodiversity Foundation/Kehati
• Indonesian Centre of Environmental Law
• Indonesian Disaster Management Network/MPBI
• Indonesian Harm Reduction Network/Jangkar
• Indonesian People’s Forum
• Indonesian Youth Forum
• Institute for Essential Services Reform, Indonesia
• Kemala Foundation, Indonesia
• Lestari Mandiri, Indonesia
• Mining Advocacy Network, Indonesia
• Pelangi Foundation, Indonesia
• Rumah Djingga, Indonesia
• Sawit Watch, Indonesia
• Sekretariat Bersamo Indonesia Berseru (SBIB)
• WWF Indonesia
• Philippine Network on Climate Change
• Haribon Foundation, Philippines
• Miriam PEACE Foundation, Philippines
• Mother Earth Foundation, Philippines
• Philippine Rural Reconstruction
• Soljuspax, Philippines
• Bethelsdorp Development Trust, South Africa