ActionAid calls on governments at COP31 to invest in survival and move past empty rhetoric
Ahead of COP31, ActionAid has warned governments that continued inaction on climate spells doom for communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis. The world cannot afford another round of empty rhetoric. COP31 must prioritise substantial adaptation financing to safeguard the billions of people currently facing climate risks.
Laying out the organisation’s COP expectations, Teresa Anderson, Global Lead on Climate Justice at ActionAid International, said:
“Shattering temperature records, Nepal’s catastrophic glacier collapse and the intensifying Super El Niño all signal that we are entering a frightening new era of climate consequences. But the recent United Nations Environment Programme’s adaptation report shows that the world is failing to invest in its own survival, with adaptation spending levels ` just a fraction of what is needed to keep humanity safe. Instead, climate-vulnerable countries are being pushed into debt by the escalating costs of disasters and are forced to spend the bulk of their public funds on repaying debt instead of investing in climate action. COP31 needs to get serious about protecting the billions of people who are now at risk by putting real financing for adaptation at the centre of the climate conversation.”
Anderson added: “No one should be forced to choose between a secure job and a safe planet. The negotiations on the Just Transition Mechanism offer hope for the millions who might worry that climate policies will threaten their jobs or add to the cost of living. COP31 presents an opportunity to establish a Just Transition Mechanism that protects and provides for workers, women and communities as they navigate the opportunities and challenges of climate action. To do this, COP must establish a new body with the powers to track and boost approaches that ensure green transitions are really people-centred.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
Contact the press office at media-enquiries@actionaid.org or on +263772616506 or +44 7592 302293 to arrange an interview.
*ActionAid's latest report, Debt Fuels the Climate Crisis: How the Finance Flows, reveals that debt is a major, but fixable, barrier to climate action and how fixing it could be one of the most impactful and achievable climate solutions available.
ActionAid Spokespeople at COP31
- Teresa Anderson: Climate Justice Lead at AAI (Head of Delegation (both weeks)
- Sujeeta Mathema: Executive Director at ActionAid Nepal (week 1)
- Flora Vano: ActionAid Vanuatu (both weeks)
- Brandon Wu: Director of Policy and Campaigns at AAUSA (week 2)
- Andrew Mamedu: Country Director at ActionAid Nigeria (week 1)
- Hamdi Benslama: EU Advocacy Advisor (both weeks)
- Niranjali Amerasinghe: Executive Director at ActionAid USA (week 1)
- Michelle Higelin: Executive Director at ActionAid Australia (week 1)
- Mary Sakala: Woman Farmer from Zambia (week 1)
Brief Bios
Teresa Anderson is Global Lead on climate justice for ActionAid International, with 25 years' experience in the NGO sector spanning issues of climate, finance and agriculture. She leads ActionAid's climate policy work across a range of issues including climate impacts, finance, adaptation, just transition, land, agriculture and net zero. She coordinates Climate Action Network's (CAN) working group on agriculture and has authored ActionAid’s annual flagship report series on finance flows relating to climate, including the recent “Debt Fuels the Climate Crisis: How the Finance Flows.” She will be ActionAid's Head of Delegation at COP31. She is available for English interviews.
Sujeeta Mathema is the Executive Director of ActionAid Nepal, bringing over 22 years of experience in human rights and women's rights to COP31. Currently leading ActionAid’s response to Nepal’s recent catastrophic floods, Sujeeta is available for media engagements to speak on the challenges that frontline communities are facing because of the climate crisis and the urgent need for a new climate finance goal that reaches frontline communities at the true scale of the crisis. She speaks English, Hindi and Nepali.
Flora Vano is the Country Program Manager for ActionAid Vanuatu, one of the countries most vulnerable to extreme weather conditions. Flora played a critical role in providing leadership to the start-up of Women TokTok Tugeta (WITTT) Forums, a platform and safe space for diverse Ni-Vanuatu women to organise and strategise. Flora has played a lead role in establishing Women Wetem Weta (WWW), which is a network of young women monitoring the weather for early warning and preparedness using mobile phone technology. She has also represented the country on various platforms to bring in Ni-Vanuatu women’s perspectives on both regional and global spaces, including the VCAN (Vanuatu Climate Action Network). At COP31, she is available to speak about the experiences of women in the Pacific battling the climate crisis. She speaks English.
Brandon Wu is the Director of Policy and Campaigns for ActionAid USA; he has been closely following the UNFCCC since 2012. Brandon is an expert on climate finance, fairness & equity in the global climate regime, and the role of the United States, with a recent focus on the establishment of the Fund for responding to Loss & Damage (FRLD). He has been attending FRLD meetings since the beginning of the Transitional Committee process as a civil society observer, is a current board member of the US Climate Action Network, a former board member of Climate Action Network-International and was the elected civil society representative on the Green Climate Fund board during its formative years from 2013 to 2015. He organizes a youth Climate Reparations Camp in the US aimed at connecting local US struggles with global climate justice. He speaks English.
Andrew Mamedu is the Country Director of ActionAid Nigeria, appointed in September 2023. With over 23 years of experience in project management, resource mobilization, and strategic advocacy, he has been instrumental in advancing social justice and poverty eradication in Nigeria, also having worked in Tanzania, Cameroon, and other West African countries. His work spans diverse projects and policy advocacy at both national and continental levels. Andrew speaks English.
Hamdi Benslama is a climate justice expert on climate finance and the role of the European Union in international climate negotiations. He monitors the EU's engagement in climate finance negotiations, particularly the Climate Finance Work Programme, adaptation finance, and loss and damage. His broader interest is in the EU's external policies and its role in multilateral governance. He has worked in the European Parliament and in a European Delegation in Asia. He speaks French and English.
Niranjali Amerasinghe is Executive Director of ActionAid USA and has expertise in climate finance, economic justice, and human rights. Niranjali leads ActionAid’s work on how U.S. economic policy impacts climate-vulnerable countries. She previously led Green Climate Fund advocacy at the World Resources Institute and directed the Climate & Energy Program at the Center for International Environmental Law, where she developed legal strategies to shift finance away from fossil fuels. At COP31, she is available to speak on international climate finance, debt justice, climate change, accountability and the links between climate justice and human rights.
Partner spokespeople available
Mary Sakala is a small-scale farmer from Mumbwa, Zambia, with over 30 years of experience farming maize, sorghum, millet, groundnuts, and beans. She also rears cattle and goats. Mary is an avid advocate for agroecology as a sustainable solution to climate change-induced shocks. She has played a key role in calling for a shift from investments in synthetic chemicals to agroecology. Across Southern Africa, Mary trains women farmers on soil-restoring practices to safeguard harvests against severe droughts and floods. At COP31, she will share vivid, first-hand insights on why global climate finance must prioritise African smallholders and community-led adaptation techniques as well as the El Nino impacts. Mary speaks English and Lozi.
About ActionAid
ActionAid is a global federation working for a world free from poverty and injustice. We want to see a just, fair and sustainable world in which everybody enjoys the right to a life of dignity and freedom from poverty and oppression. We work to achieve social justice and gender equality, and to eradicate poverty.