21 times more money is spent on bombing the planet than saving it
As world leaders get ready to meet at COP27 in Egypt, Islamic Relief is calling on them to agree an international fund to compensate poorer countries for the loss and damage caused by increasingly frequent and severe climate-related disasters.
Current extreme weather disasters – such as the drought in the Horn of Africa, which is suffering an unprecedented five failed rainy seasons, and Pakistan’s worst floods in living memory – are destroying people’s lives and livelihoods on an unprecedented scale and costing tens of billions of dollars.
By 2030 it’s projected that climate change will cost developing countries up to $580 billion in Loss and Damage. Yet, despite repeated discussions in recent years and this being the most critical issue for many poorer countries, there remains no dedicated global Loss and Damage finance facility.
Islamic Relief is calling for the countries with the largest emissions to pay for the fund. It should also be in the form of grants, not loans that trap poor countries deeper into debt.
Rich nations are also failing to keep their promise of providing $100 billion a year in climate financing, at the same time as global military spending for the past year reached $2.1 trillion – 21 times what’s been pledged on the climate crisis.
Jamie Williams, Islamic Relief’s senior policy adviser on poverty reduction, says:
“Climate change is the biggest threat to humanity today. The idea that rich nations can’t afford to increase their commitments is absurd when you consider how much more is spent on the military and war every year. The future of the planet is at stake, but some governments spend more money bombing it than saving it. We simply cannot afford not to act.
“We are seeing more and more lives destroyed by climate-related disasters. Rich nations have contributed most to the climate crisis and it is morally right that the polluter should pay to compensate poor communities who are suffering the consequences.”
Islamic Relief is also calling on governments at COP27 to:
- Ensure that at least 50% of global climate financing is spent on adaptation. So far only about a quarter of financing goes towards helping communities adapt to the increasingly devastating impacts of the climate crisis.
- “Keep 1.5 alive” by setting out how they will reduce emissions, end the dependency on fossil fuels and invest in clean energy, to keep global heating to the target of 1.5 degrees. Only 21 of 194 countries have updated their national climate plans on how they plan to achieve their Paris Agreement commitments, and the latest UN projections are that current rates of emissions will see heating at a catastrophic level of 2.5-2.8 degrees.
- Commit to locally-led adaptation and ensuring that discussions and decisions on climate change are fully inclusive. Women, people with disabilities and indigenous groups are frequently shut out of discussions and adaptation plans at global, national and local level. Civil society voices must be heard and taken into account at COP.
In a new report, “The land is aching: Extreme climate-induced flooding in Pakistan,” Islamic Relief highlights how, without more support for Loss and Damage, countries like Pakistan will sink deeper into debt and poverty every time they are hit by climate disasters. Pakistan contributes 0.1% of global emissions, yet the floods are expected to cost Pakistan’s economy $20-30 billion and have caused massive damage to infrastructure, as well as destroying many rural agricultural and pastoral livelihoods.
As well as calling for any new global Loss and Damage finance facility to include the Pakistan floods, it also calls for automatic interest-free debt moratoriums for all developing countries that are experiencing climate disasters.
Notes to editors
For more information on the status of national climate plans, see https://climateactiontracker.org/climate-target-update-tracker-2022/
The UNFCCC NDC Synthesis Report (26th October), which projects that current pledges put the world on a pathway to warming of 2.5 degrees Celsius, is available here: https://unfccc.int/documents/619180. The UNEP Emissions Gap Report (27th October), which warns that this could reach 2.8 degrees Celsius, is available here: https://www.unep.org/resources/emissions-gap-report-2022
According to annual research by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), global military expenditure surpassed $2 trillion for the first time in 2021: https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/2022-04/fs_2204_milex_2021_0.pdf
