On the sidelines of the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), the Organisation internationale de la francophonie (OIF) organised a "high-level" Francophone ministerial meeting on 9 December 2023 at the Pavillon de la Francophonie in Dubai to discuss the challenges of mobilising climate finance. Under the theme of "the French language at the service of increased access to climate finance", the meeting enabled ministers and heads of delegation to identify solutions for giving the French language a more prominent place in climate negotiations and in the efforts of French-speaking developing countries to gain access to climate finance.
The French-speaking countries of Africa are victims of a double injustice within the climate negotiating bodies. As well as being the continent most vulnerable to climate change despite contributing little to global greenhouse gas emissions (less than 4%), these countries, which are mainly found in the Sahel region, face a language barrier in their national processes for mobilising climate finance. The French language puts them at a disadvantage within the climate negotiation bodies, which are largely dominated by English.
Having established this, the participants at the “high-level” Francophonie consultation in Dubai, chaired by Caroline Saint-Hilaire, the administrator of the OIF, put forward a number of recommendations. “Climate justice requires linguistic justice! A strong message to our heads of state, but also to our ministers and representatives, so that when they express themselves in the various climate negotiation bodies, they do so in French and no longer in English”, declared Caroline Saint-Hilaire, at the start of her summary at the end of the meeting.
The participants insisted on the need for a strategic Francophonie. This means learning from each other and building solidarity between French-speaking countries that are successful in mobilising funding and those that are not. This solidarity should also extend to green project developers, with the aim of achieving an acceptable level of access to climate finance in French-speaking countries.
The participants shared the proposal to initiate and strengthen high-level advocacy by French-speaking heads of state for easier access to climate finance, with a view to the forthcoming Paris summit on climate finance for developing countries.
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Dr. Arona Soumare, UNFCCC Focal Point for the AfDB, pointed out that 9 of the world’s 10 most vulnerable countries to climate change are in sub-Saharan Africa, 5 of which are French-speaking, hence the need to bridge the language gap to enable them to access more resources. “Most climate funds require long and complex application processes that are only available in English. This poses problems for countries with limited capacity, generally the least developed French-speaking African countries. It is therefore important to make the case for French-speaking countries to be able to submit projects in their own language to all the financial windows, institutions such as the Green Climate Fund, etc.”, stressed Mr Soumare. He also referred to the Climate Action Window (CAW), which was successfully launched on 4 December 2023 at COP28. The CAW aims to accelerate adaptation actions for the 37 least developed countries in Africa, 18 of which are French-speaking countries.
Aware that climate finance is a major challenge for the full implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement, the Principality of Monaco, through Isabelle Berro-Amadeï, Government Counsellor and Minister for External Relations and Cooperation, welcomed the extension of its partnership with the Institut de la Francophonie pour le Développement Durable (IFDD) to support French-speaking stakeholders in their access to climate finance.
Boris Ngounou
