Activists Call for Ban of Geoengineering experimentations in Africa

By Oluwakemi Kindness

Activists in reaction to the Baku Conference of the Parties COP29, have tasked leaders in the African continent to place a ban on geo-engineering experimentations, including solar radiation management, ocean fertilization, rock weathering and others.

A Coalition of Civil Society Organizations CSOs in Nigeria stated this in Abuja on Wednesday while also decrying that COP29 held in Baku, Azerbaijan failed to address the pressing climate justice and financial needs of vulnerable nations.

The coalition consisting of experts in the field of environment, health, research amongst others criticized the $300 billion climate finance pledge by developed countries set to take effect in 2035.

Speaking in Abuja on Wednesday at a Press conference on Nigerian CSOs Report Card on COP29 – The Way Forward, the coalition described the pledge as an insult, noting that given current inflationary trends, the amount would have shrunk to the equivalent of $175 billion by 2035—far below what is required.

Leading the coalition, the Executive Director, Health Of Mother Earth Foundation, Nnimmo Bassey, said civil society analysts put the climate debt owed climate-vulnerable countries, found mostly in the Global South at $5-8 trillion annually.

“We recall that at COP15 in 2009 the pledge was to pay $10bn dollars yearly from 2010 to 2020 and raise that to $100bn from 2020. Those targets never materialized. The New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) was presented as a means of raising funds needed to support mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage in developing and climate-vulnerable countries, found mostly in the Global South. The amount needed was put at a minimum of $1.3 trillion annually, although civil society analysts put the climate debt at $5-8 trillion annually”.

“COP29 failed spectacularly on the finance note and the leader of the Nigerian delegation rightly called the minuscule amount offered an insult”.

“We demand an urgent clean up of areas polluted by fossil fuel exploitation and provision of clean renewable energy to energy poor communities.
Nigeria and other African countries should place a ban on geoengineering experimentations, including solar radiation management, ocean fertilization, rock weathering and others”, Bassey added

Speaking further, Bassey emphasized the importance of recognizing and compensating communities that have kept fossil fuels in the ground, citing examples from Ecuador, Norway, and Nigeria.

“We denounce false solutions and market-based mechanisms that include carbon offset schemes, carbon removals and others”.

“The energy and other transitions must promote human rights and be inclusive of gender responsive efforts with communities duly integrated in the decision making processes”.

And ahead of COP30 scheduled for Brazil, the environmental activist said it should be a truly peoples’ COP where voices of youths, women, indigenous and impacted communities take centre stage.

“Loss and Damage should be fully addressed under the concept of Climate Debt”.

Meanwhile the Executive Director, Women Environmental Programme, Anne-Marie Abaagu, lamented the COP29 did not mainstream the inclusion of youths, and women.

She reiterated the need for COP30 to mainstream gender in climate action while building their capacity.

Also the coordinator, Tubali Development Initiative, Hauwa Mustapha, criticized Africa leaders who attend the conference but pursue after investment opportunities rather than holding climate pollutants accountable .

END