September 14, (THEWILL) – Climate Activists in Nigeria and 49 other countries are mobilising more than 150 events, calling on their governments to urgently implement a fast, fair and funded phase-out of fossil fuels to prevent further climate catastrophe.
Nigeria and Kenya lead the pack in Africa, with each country hosting more than 10 actions.
More than 70 events are planned in 20 African countries; from rallies to theatrical performances.
Nigeria and the United States opened talks on climate change, and green financing paths in April.
In a statement shared with journalists on Sunday, May 19, 2024, President Bola Tinubu’s former Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action, Ajuri Ngelale, said discussions were centred on “leveraging large-scale climate financing instruments to drive Nigeria’s green industrial agenda in the years ahead.”
However, activists are concerned that many countries affected by climate change seem to view climate change financing from the lens of a handout from the countries and firms most responsible for the environmental damage.
Ogunlade Olamide, Senior Programmes Manager at Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), said: “It is worrying that climate finance is being reduced to charity and business by entities responsible for the crises when coping capacities of impacted frontline communities are almost exhausted.
“We demand that this parasitic system must STOP, Its people over profit and not the opposite.’’
The rallies kick off a global week of action ahead of Climate Week NYC (September 22-29), when world leaders assemble for the UN General Assembly and the first UN Summit of the Future where they will agree on a Pact for the Future. Drafts of the pact have already seen a commitment to transition away from fossil fuels come and go – although it has been reinstated in the latest version.
In Asia, more than 70 coordinated demonstrations are taking place in 62 cities in the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India, with many targeting coal-fired power plants in protest against the alarming expansion of new coal projects in the region.
To comply with the goal of the 2015 Paris Agreement, the transition out of oil, gas and coal, must be done at a pace and scale required to keep the global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
However, many Global North countries are going in the opposite direction. They continue their fossil fuel expansion, provide billions in fossil fuel subsidies, and even prop up fossil fuel expansion in the Global South with public and private investments.
Lidy Nacpil, Asian Peoples Movement on Debt and Development/Global Campaign Demand Climate Justice, said: “The climate crisis is escalating rapidly, yet global coal use and capacity is at an all-time high. Global North nations are bankrolling coal expansion in Asia, despite their leaders’ COP28 commitment to accelerate the transition from fossil fuels. We are calling on Asian governments to stop the expansion of coal in our countries and implement a rapid, equitable and just phase-out of existing coal. We demand a stop to direct and indirect public and private financing of coal. New electricity demand can be met with renewable energy, which is less costly, quicker to build, easier to make accessible to all communities and reduces reliance on imported fuels.”
Tasneem Essop, Executive Director of Climate Action Network International, said: “We demand action, not empty words. Rich nations call for a transition away from fossil fuels but do little to reduce their emissions, and instead, we are seeing their continued oil, gas and coal expansion. This double standard perpetuates the colonial legacy and disproportionately devastates communities in the Global South. Africa, Asia, and Latin America & the Caribbean are paying the price with lost lives, destroyed infrastructure, and ruined livelihoods. Rich nations must lead and end the expansion of fossil fuels.”
Janefrances Ebere Chibuzor is a Tourism Writer at THEWILL
