Deputy Prime Minister Professor Biman Prasad says USD$7 trillion was spent by developed and developing countries on fossil fuel subsidies in 2022 – 70 times more than the unmet 2020 $100b goal and seven times what many developing countries are seeking to secure in Baku.

Speaking at COP 29 this week, the Head of Fiji’s delegation to the climate summit said according to the United Nations Environment Programme, the financing that is currently flowing to support adaptation is between 1/10 and 1/18 of what is required to meet adaptation needs (UNEP, 2023).

The Deputy PM said the failure of parties to reduce global emissions over the last three decades, paired with significant short falls in the funding needed to build resilience has increased the scale of loss and damage arising from climate change impacts and increasing the scale of the loss and damage that will be experienced in the future.

“This is the reality – finance is flowing in exactly the wrong direction to perpetuate the very problem we are here to address,” Professor Prasad said. “This is market distortion – an arrangement that is consciously putting the brakes on transition. It is perpetuating industries that have no future while at the same time putting our future at risk.”

He said what many parties were prioritising was “a very dangerous form of short-termism that cannot be scientifically, economically, or socially justified.”

“Access to new and additional financing for addressing loss and damage is a critical means to ensure existing financing is not diverted away from public services, long-term adaptation measures, and structural reform efforts to address urgent loss and damage needs following a disaster event, crop failure, or climate change induced drought.”