Least Developed Countries Call for Unified Voice at COP29

LILONGWE, Xinhua: The Least Developed Countries (LDCs) Strategy and Ministerial Meeting opened Monday in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, with a call for member states to have a unified voice at the climate change conference in November to lobby for support to address climate change impacts that the countries are facing.

Malawian Principal Secretary for Natural Resources and Climate Change Yusuf Mkungula made the call, saying a unified voice and common position of LDCs at the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP29) would assist in pushing for predictable, scaled-up, and accessible financing for implementing adaptation, mitigation programs and addressing loss and damage in LDCs.

Mkungula stressed that the unified and common position of the LDCs at the November COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, would also play a crucial role in shaping international climate policies and negotiations that would assist in mitigating climate change impacts on LDCs.

The Strategy and Ministerial Meeting, themed “Uniting for 1.5 degrees Celsius — Aligned Climate Action and Resilient Future,” has drawn participants from all the 45 LDCs, and is expected to conclude Wednesday.

According to the chairperson of the LDCs Group Evans Njewa, the key objective of the LDCs Strategy and Ministerial Meeting is to solidify strategies that can drive substantial outcomes at COP29.

Njewa said during the opening that, as the LDCs family, they believe that the current climate action is insufficient and that “there is a pressing need for raised ambition.”

Participants will also discuss mitigation and just transition of outcomes for COP29 and common positions on the Global Goal on Adaptation to increase resilience, said Njewa.