Kreetika Kumar 
A view shows a sign of the COP29 United Nations Climate Change Conference with a backdrop of the cityscape in Baku, Azerbaijan [Source: Reuters]
The UN Climate Change Conference COP29 provides a platform for small island developing states to demand a review of global climate finance mechanisms.
Permanent Secretary for Environment and Climate Change, Dr Sivendra Michael, states that accessing this finance takes time and can be frustrating, especially since many communities back home are already affected and cannot afford to wait.
However, he emphasizes that appropriate modalities and governance structures must be established to facilitate access to these funds.
“And so the COP is a process where we kind of demand the review of these mechanisms because we are seeing the Pacific at large that the international financing architecture is flawed. It’s not, you know, doing justice to what it’s supposed to.”
Michael adds that the developed countries are taking the climate change issue seriously however they need a great level of confidence when it comes to investing.
With climate impacts inflicting growing human and economic costs in every country, every COP is a vital global moment that must deliver major progress, and COP29 is no exception.
