Emissions cuts, climate finance top agenda for Least Developed Countries Group at Glasgow climate talks

Ambitious commitments from wealthier countries to cut carbon emissions and increase the quantity and quality of climate finance will be vital to the success of the forthcoming climate talks in Glasgow, according to the Least Developed Countries (LDC) Group. 

In the paper 'Resetting climate negotiations: LDC priorities for an ambitious COP26', co-written with IIED, the group of 46 countries sets out its expectations for the climate change talks. 

They include increased ambition from major emitters to reduce their carbon emissions to keep in sight the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C, a push by wealthy nations to deliver the US$100bn in climate finance that was promised annually by 2020, as well as a new and more ambitious climate finance target that will run from 2025 onwards.

Sonam P Wangdi, chair of the LDC Group, said: “There is an urgent need for solidarity and cooperation of all parties to reduce emissions, support efforts to adapt to the changing climate and deal with all the consequences of climate change.

“Our economies and our people are experiencing loss and damage because of climate change. We didn’t cause this crisis but we are suffering the worst of its impacts. We are the ones most affected by climate change, it is critical that the most vulnerable people's voices are included in decisions on the global response to the crisis.”

LDCs do not support the use of carbon credits that were created under the Kyoto Protocol to meet Paris Agreement commitments, which would undermine the temperature goal of the Paris Agreement. LDCs also need robust rules for the Paris Agreement’s market mechanisms to ensure there is no double counting of emission reductions and that units traded have environmental integrity, representing a true reduction of emissions. 

The group would like to see the cycle for revising countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) set at five years to encourage more frequent improvements on these currently lacklustre plans. 

Climate finance commitments made up to 2020 must be met. Wealthy nations must embark on a big push to deliver this long-promised funding with a credible delivery plan to reboot trust.

From 2025, a new climate finance target will apply, which should be based on realistic assessments of developing countries’ needs and which should cover not only the costs of mitigation and adaptation but also the losses and damage least developed countries have suffered and will suffer due to climate change. 

Separate targets should be set for finance to mitigate global warming, and to adapt to the changes in climate that are already inevitable. The LDC Group has continually stressed the critical role of grant-based finance for adaptation, rather than loans, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic toll it has taken.
  
The LDC Group wants to see an extension of the mandate for countries to submit their long-term strategies, which expired last year, to encourage countries to plan towards net zero carbon emissions targets.