Ms Jennifer Higgins:

Concerning exceptional weather events, migration, climate and how we bring people on that journey and increase empathy, there is much work to be done in development education and better understanding the interconnectedness of climate change, conflict and poverty. That is also why for us as a development organisation, climate finance is a key theme. There is a direct connection in that climate change is only going to increase levels of conflict and poverty, which in turn drive people to migrate. We are concerned that, increasingly, funding will go to deal with climate change and projects in that area, particularly in developing countries. If that finance is not new and additional, however, our worry is that it will come at the expense of funding for health, education and gender projects. It is the same pool of money.

Development NGOs, small or large, will have to shift their focus of work according to where funding is directed. They will have to move to deal with the immediate impact of climate change and away from the structural root causes of inequality, to the detriment of programme work on human rights, governance etc. Some worrying language started to emerge in the COP process during negotiations on the rule book in Katowice. There was a push to block the inclusion of a sentence from the preamble to the Paris Agreement. That sentence focused on the protection of human rights, gender rights and indigenous rights and was not included in the end.

While we are talking about increasing ambition to reduce emissions, it is important to remember these are interconnected processes and scientific reports clearly highlight that aspect.