The Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) has urged the EU member states to allocate at least 25 per cent of Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) revenues to climate finance, especially targeting critically needed adaptation funding

PACJA is a representative of the African civil society groups coalescing under at the climate talks while an FTT is a levy placed on a specific type of monetary transaction for a particular purpose.

Speaking at the ongoing 18th Conference of Parties (COP18) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, George Awudi of PACJA said such a measure would clearly meet the requirement of being “new and additional’’.

In Copenhagen in 2009, industrialised countries pledged to mobilise 100 billion dollars per year by 2020 in climate finance in order to provide urgently needed funding to enable poor countries to protect their people from the worst effects of climate change.

The effects of climate change include extreme weather, massive economic disruption, and loss of life and livelihoods.

“With this money, we could re-direct economic development toward climate sustainability and reduce our rates of greenhouse gas emissions,’’ said Awudi.

As the Fast Start Finance period comes to a close, he pointed out, “industrialised countries have little to show but repackaged aid and rhetorical reassurances that they won’t turn their back on their financing responsibilities over the coming years.’’

The call to the EU comes against the background of dwindling support for adaptation, particularly through the Adaptation Fund, among the delegates representing developed countries at the COP18.

Coupled with the lack of clear road map for scaling up funding to 100 billion dollars by 2020, the African civil society said they were deeply concerned that this COP may prove to be “an empty meeting, offering no promises and commitments.’’

“We are aware of the economic problems in developed countries, and we are sympathetic to the impact the economic crisis has had on our friends in Europe and elsewhere in the developed world,’’ Awudi said.

Fortunately, according to him, the economic crisis offers not only obstacles, but also fresh opportunities to find additional financing for climate change.

According to PACJA, a forward thinking group of EU member states are going to implement a financial transactions tax next year.

France has already committed to allocate part of the revenue to development and climate finance.

Influential figures who include Kofi Annan, Desmond Tutu and Bill Gates as well as thousands of EU citizens have spoken in favour of allocating revenues to development and the fight against global warming.

A recent study by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin) estimated that the proposed European FTT would raise 40 billion euros each year in the 12 EU countries that have agreed to move forward with the tax so far.