International observer organizations, concerned with the environment, are urging rich countries to stop holding back their climate change financial support to developing countries, after the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meeting on the Paris Agreement Work Program, attended by Tonga and other parties, was held between 30 April – 10 May, in Bonn, Germany.

With developing nations already facing devastating climate impacts despite the Paris Agreement World Program edging closer to completion, financial support is crucial.

ActionAid International’s Harjeet Singh said that finance underpins so many different parts of climate negotiations as poor countries cannot afford the costs of loss and damage, adaptation and mitigation on their own.

"But with developed countries refusing to move on finance, lots of pieces are still unfinished. This is holding up the whole package, which is supposed to be finalised at the end of this year. Issues are piling up, and it's a dangerous strategy to leave everything to the last minute,” he said.

The funding is needed so countries can develop national plans under the Paris Agreement and although Fiji’s COP23 Presidency launched the ‘Talanoa Dialogue’ to assess and improve these national plans, international organizations says the global average temperature will still rise by around 3°C, much higher than the 1.5°C goal.

However, civil society expressed some dissatisfaction with the dialogue, which adopted a storytelling appoach and explicitly discouraged singling any one country or group of countries out for putting forward inadequate plans.

Third World Network’s Meena Raman, said “We live in a world with over 1°C warming and the devastation is already severe. We cannot allow for that warming to go beyond 1.5°C and we need a political process to prevent that.”

“The story of climate violence is full of villains who for decades have grown rich off their polluting activities. They bear a historical responsibility – and they owe the rest of the world a debt.”

Raman stressed that going forward, Fiji must ensure that the Talanoa Dialogue fulfills its mandate by leading to an improvement in the climate mitigation and finance plans put forward by countries. "Developed countries have broken their commitment to revise their pre-2020 pollution cuts - they must not do the same with their post-2020 efforts."

Focus has turned to ‘loss and damage’ instead but little done to deliver it, said Rachel Kennerley, Friends of the Earth England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

“The longer it takes to provide dedicated financial support for loss and damage, and the slower emissions cuts, the greater impacts of climate change will be and the bigger the bill in the end.”

Pacific islands need support

Meanwhile, Kiribati is expecting financial support having just completed its national consultation on climate change and disaster risk finance assessment to better their chances of accessing global climate finance.

Kiribati’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Development Deputy Secretary, Ms Tebantaake Keariki, said the assessment will support the work of its new Climate Finance Division tasked with facilitating access to the Green Climate Fund, the Adaptation Fund, and the Climate Investment Fund.

But if the UN climate change talks haven’t progressed on rich countries providing funding to developing countries under the Paris Agreement, small developing states such as Kiribati, and Tonga will continue to suffer the consequences of climate change induced disasters.

Earlier this year, the impact of climate change has become more evident in the Pacific as Tonga experienced first-hand the intensity of Tropical Cyclone Gita.

Tonga says the exacerbated effects of climate change will eventually lead to loss and irreversible damage to its islands.

The Tongan delegation to the Bonn meeting was lead by Mr. Sione Talolakepa Fulivai and Ms Losana Latu, and were joined by Ms. ‘Elisapeti Veikoso, Ms. Adi Talanaivini Mafi and Ms. ‘Amelia Fa’otusia from New York, USA.

UN climate change talks are planned to resume in Bangkok between 3 – 8 September where notes from this session and other inputs from countries will form the basis of negotiation ahead of COP24 in Katowice, Poland, in December 2018.