69% of global climate-related deaths are from 17 least developed countries – UN
A 2023 United Nations Report on Least Developing Countries has stated that 17 out of the 20 most climate-vulnerable and least climate-prepared countries are least developed countries.
The report further disclosed that in the last half a century, 69 percent of climate-related deaths have occurred in these least developed countries as recorded in 2021.
The countries include Chad, Central African Republic, Eritrea, D.R. Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Afghanistan, Sudan, Somalia, Liberia, Mali, Congo, Yemen, Uganda, and Madagascar.
The rest are Niger, Burundi, Haiti, Zimbabwe, Papua New Guinea and Sierra Leone.
Details from the 2023 United Nations Report on Least Developing Countries indicate that these countries receive 45% of funds needed to tackle climate change which is not reflective of their vulnerabilities. These funds, more concerning, are loans rather than grants, the report added.
“Between 2016 and 2020, they received about $12.6 billion per year – an amount proportional to their share of developing countries’ total population.
"Only 45% of the funds targeted climate adaptation – a key priority for LDCs. More focused on mitigation, such as reducing greenhouse gases, even though they contribute just 4% of global emissions,” parts of the report noted.
The UN recommends the need for more climate finance with a bigger share of the funds focused on climate change adaptation.
It also calls for more climate-specific finance for LDCs which suffer the most from climate change but contribute the least to its causes.
“LDCs, along with small island developing states, should be given priority in new climate financing mechanisms, such as the upcoming Loss and Damage Fund,” the report noted.
It adds that it is necessary to address both the immediate costs of extreme weather events and longer-term, accumulated climate damage and avoid additional costs like insurance premiums.
