News Update

It is vital that the extra funding agreed at the latest United Nations climate summit to help poor countries like Somalia deal with the impact of climate change is released swiftly to avoid it being ‘too little, too late’.

That is the verdict of Zamzam Foundation after the UN’s COP 29 climate conference, which took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from November 11 to 22. Zamzam attended to add its voice to those demanding that more be done to compensate the poorest and most vulnerable countries for the ‘loss and damage’ they continue to suffer because of polluting carbon emissions from the industrialised world.

Before the summit, richer countries were already committed to providing poorer nations with $100 billion a year to adapt to climate change, recognising that the countries that have contributed least to the climate crisis are suffering most because of it. The ‘new collective quantified goal’ (NCQG) negotiated at COP 29 means the level of funding is set to increase to $300 billion a year by 2035, but a number of poorer countries expressed disappointment about the outcome.

“We are extremely disappointed at the lack of progress on the issues critical to Africa,” said Ali Mohamed, chair of the African Group of Negotiators at COP 29. “Africa has and will continue to sound the alarm on the inadequacy of climate finance.”

Zamzam Foundation was represented at the summit by Suleikha Ali Yusuf, the organisation’s Partnership and Resource Consultant. “I am proud that the poorest countries spoke up strongly and in unity to make this deal happen,” she says, “but many of us feel frustrated because the amount announced still falls far short of what is truly needed. The process of securing funds for countries like Somalia has been painfully slow, and there is a grave danger that the latest deal may prove to be too little, too late – unless the new finance is released immediately and transferred swiftly to the communities who need it most..

“The latest climate science is extremely concerning because it suggests that we are closer than ever to losing the battle to prevent global warming going beyond 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. If that battle is lost, the scientists tell us to expect runaway climate change, with a devastating impact for everyone and especially for the poorest countries and communities.”

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) published its annual Emissions Gap Report for 2024 – bitingly titled ‘No More Hot Air…Please’ – in the week preceding COP 29. The report warned that emissions cuts of 42 per cent would be needed by 2030 and 57 per cent by 2035 to get back on track to contain warming within 1.5°C.

“A failure to increase ambition…and start delivering immediately would put the world on course for a temperature increase of 2.6-3.1°C over the course of this century,” UNEP warned. “This would bring debilitating impacts to people, planet and economies.”

Attending COP 29 was an opportunity for Zamzam Foundation to learn and network as well as to support growing calls for climate action in favour of those hit hardest by the climate emergency – including communities in Somalia that Zamzam works with every day.

Attendees from Somalia also included Nimo Hassan, Director of the Somalia NGO Consortium (SNC) and Chair of the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA) – two influential organisations that Zamzam is part of.

In a position paper ahead of the conference, the SNC set out four priorities for Somalia agreed in a dialogue between representatives of government, civil society and academia:

• Climate financing must be fair, adequate, and timely.
• Countries at the climate-conflict nexus face unique challenges and require unique considerations.
• Inclusive climate adaptation investments should prioritise countries with low adaptive capacity.
• High-carbon emissions countries must support low-emissions countries to futureproof their economies for climate change mitigation.

All Zamzam Foundation’s programmes take account of climate change and the need to help communities adapt to it, and these are programmes that donors in the UK can support by donating to Zamzam UK:

• Zamzam’s emergency response programme saves lives when families have lost everything due to droughts or floods
• The organisation’s livelihoods programme enables those affected to rebuild their lives and become more resilient in the face of future disasters
• Its peacebuilding programme focuses on resolving conflicts over increasingly scarce resources such as water and pasture
• Its clean water programme delivers extensive water resources by providing new boreholes and wells
• Its health programme teams treat malnutrition (which increases in periods of drought) and deadly water-borne diseases such as cholera and acute watery diarrhoea (which tend to increase during floods).
• Its training programme includes help for farmers to adopt climate-resilient methods such as drought-resistant crops, solar-powered drip irrigation, and using water-saving hydroponics in the cultivation of fodder crops for animals.