Recently joined KiC member Teall Crossen talks about her experience working on climate finance in Dili, Timor-Leste, one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate perils.
Who is Teall?
I have been working on climate justice issues for over two decades now (gulp). I started out organising climate protests at University, then embarked on a legal career in Aotearoa and overseas. I worked for Greenpeace International on climate litigation, then served Pacific Island countries at the UNFCCC negotiations in the build-up to the Paris Agreement. I became convinced that NZ could and should be doing more internationally to build global political will for ambitious climate action, as well as developing our climate resilience plans to better prepare for the unavoidable damage coming our way. I returned home and focussed on climate action through Green Party politics, using the law to protect nature working as a lawyer, and writing a book on people displaced by climate change in the Pacific (see The Climate Dispossessed).
How did you end up working on climate finance in Dili?
I am particularly focussed on the injustice of the climate crisis – namely those least responsible for climate pollution are suffering the most, and have the least resources to adapt to increasing climate effects. That led me to volunteer at Oxfam in Timor-Leste through Volunteer Services Abroad – a New Zealand NGO that connects skilled kiwis with local organisations in countries in the Pacific and beyond.
Timor-Leste is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate breakdown. After working for Pacific and other island countries at the United Nations, it is an extraordinary experience to be working on the ground in a Small Island Developing State. I have a close up view of the reality of the challenges that drove my advocacy at UN negotiations, and an opportunity to work with people on the front line, seeking justice for local communities and vulnerable groups.
What are the big climate finance issues?
Finance will be a key focus of this years’ climate negotiations in Baku, Azerbaijan. Of course, it has always been a critical part of the international climate pact that high-income countries – responsible for most climate pollution – will provide financial support to low-income countries. This year a new global finance goal is being negotiated.
At a minimum, the goal must go beyond the $100 billion per year by 2025 agreed back in 2009 at the infamous Copenhagen Talks. That figure was of course political and not evidence based. The needs of low-income countries to adapt to climate change, and transition to a low-carbon economy, as well as cover loss and damage costs amount to trillions.
It might sound like a lot of money, but we spend more than what’s needed subsidising fossil fuels. The global economy has the money, we just need political leadership to agree to direct it towards climate solutions. And, if we don’t spend the money now, we will face the costs of not stopping global temperature rise and the impacts that all countries will suffer. Costs are already eye-watering from climate-induced disasters. In Fiji the cost of damage caused by Cyclone Winston was $1.4 billion. The costs of the Pakistan floods are estimated to be around $14.9 billion. And by one estimate, if we don’t take the climate action needed, increased social and economic costs globally are in the trillions – far exceeding costs of acting now.
At Oxfam I am supporting the team to build a climate tracking tool to monitor where climate finance is coming from, and where it is going in Timor-Leste.
Transparency and accountability for climate finance globally is a bit of a mess. There isn’t an agreed definition of climate finance, and many countries divert their already inadequate aid budget to support climate projects. This means that some money is just being shifted around, not being properly accounted for in terms of climate finance obligations and particularly vulnerable communities aren’t able to access resources to adapt to climate change.
My work also focusses on the gender dimension of climate finance. Women are often disproportionately impacted by climate impacts, exacerbating existing inequalities, yet receive little direct financial support to help them build resilience.
Kiwi Climate Solutions
It’s fantastic to be connected with so many talented kiwis in KiC working on climate change in Aotearoa and overseas, across diverse organisations and businesses, sharing knowledge and expertise. The daily WhatsApp exchanges, often highly technical in nature means I am always learning. I would love to see more people engaged in Aotearoa on the collective solutions to climate change that we all desperately need. We haven’t yet seen any government treat the climate crisis with the urgency and seriousness it deserves.
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