Countries affected by both climate change-induced hazards and military conflicts that cause humanitarian crises have joined their efforts to urge global leaders to accelerate targeted climate financing.
A newly formed alliance of fragile countries such as Chad, Iraq, Somalia and Yemen has issued a joint statement for the international community and written a letter to the UN Climate Change Conference COP30 president André Aranha Corrêa do Lago, urging to align the needs of climate-vulnerable and conflict-affected countries with global climate financing plans.
The initiative group emphasized that fragile states, facing humanitarian crises and being unable to address climate change issues due to more pressing problems related to armed conflicts, are frequently overlooked in climate action efforts. The paradox is they endure the worst impacts of climate change despite contributing the least to its causes. Over half of the world’s 25 most climate-vulnerable nations are struggling with armed clashes, widespread violence, and/or severe humanitarian crises. With hundreds of millions of the world’s most fragile populations still excluded from climate finance, the alliance is committed to making this predicament a central focus in global climate discussions this year.
Born from the COP29 climate talks in Azerbaijan last December, the network of climate-vulnerable and conflict-affected countries seeks to be a powerful diplomatic voice, pushing for a fair and effective international climate funding strategy that recognizes the unique challenges of warfare and violence-affected regions.
Leaders from 13 vulnerable countries, including ministers from Burundi, Chad, Somalia, and Yemen, as well as senior officials from Mauritania, Sierra Leone, Iraq, and South Sudan, gathered in Abu Dhabi last month to ensure their struggles are no longer ignored. Their main aim is to highlight the deep connection between climate change, conflict, and humanitarian crises — issues that often go unnoticed or neglected in global discussions, as they are not too common in developed economies. When united, these fragile states gain more strength to stand together and demand action on a global stage.
Weak governance and ongoing conflicts leave millions of people already on the brink of survival defenceless against climate change, making every flood, drought, and storm even more devastating. Without proper means to recover, communities struggle to build resilience for the future and protect themselves from climate change-related threats. Yet, the support they desperately need remains out of reach. Many of these countries receive little to no climate funding, as instability, weak institutions, and lack of data discourage investment. The aid that does arrive is often short-term, focused on immediate relief rather than long-term solutions to help them adapt to the changing environmental conditions.
The climate financing gap is staggering. Between 2014 and 2021, the world’s 13 most fragile states, as identified by the OECD, received just $2 per person in international climate funding, while non-fragile nations received $162 per person, according to a UN study. Per estimations of an ODI analysis, fragile nations urgently need $41.5 billion annually by 2030 to combat and adapt to climate change. The desired amount is nearly four times more than the $11 billion they collectively received in 2022. Notably, this estimate is based on the climate action plans of 37 fragile states listed by the World Bank for 2025. The list does not include Palestine and Ukraine, whose ongoing conflicts would push the demand even higher.
Furthermore, the climate funding gap for this vulnerable set of nations is at risk of deepening upon the USA’s recent withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. The U.S. provided nearly 9% of the climate funding that wealthy nations committed to fragile states between 2012 and 2022, but that flow has now stopped under the new President Donald Trump, a sceptic of climate change perilousness. With the U.S. stepping back and European aid budgets shrinking, the funding gap might enlarge, forcing already struggling nations to compete for limited resources.
“Our message to all countries is clear: we can no longer afford to ignore this. We urge governments, climate funds and international organisations to take immediate action to close this funding gap by increasing finance dedicated to climate change adaptation, simplifying bureaucratic procedures, and building capacity in developing countries.”
Tawfiq al-Sharjabi, Minister of Water and Environment of Yemen
In their address to André Aranha Corrêa do Lago, the fragile states united by common struggles requested to keep the issue “high on the agenda” of the UN climate summit Brazil will host this November – the foremost global forum for multilateral discussion of climate change matters.
Last year, the conference was nearly disrupted as a similar issue of neglecting the interests of small nations most severely affected by climate change consequences prompted representatives of small island states and least developed economies to walk out of prolonged consultations. “Some developing countries feel like they are not being listened to, and that they have not been included enough in the negotiations so far, with the richer countries talking mostly among themselves, they say,” reported DW’s Giulia Saudelli who was covering the event.
While sharing his plans for COP30 last week, Brazilian diplomat Corrêa do Lago stressed the importance of making it easier for developing countries to get climate funding. He also highlighted the need to increase financial support from various sources to at least $1.3 trillion per year by 2035, a goal set at COP29 last year.
