Both ENDS
On Monday 9 November, world leaders, negotiators and civil society meet in Antalya, Türkiye for COP31, the UN climate conference that runs until 20 November. Both ENDS and our partners will be there, pushing for two things: climate finance that actually reaches women-led and community-based organisations, and an end to economic rules that block the move away from fossil fuels.
Local organisations and groups must be given access to climate finance from the Green Climate Fund. They know exactly what is happening in their local context and what is required for climate adaptation.
Over the past few months, I made two trips that capture both the work we do at Both ENDS and what is at stake in today’s debate on climate finance. While large international funds are struggling to deliver on locally led climate action, initiatives Both ENDS is part of, such as the PaPes programme in Senegal and the GAGGA alliance, are showing how it can be done. With the evidence of the funding mechanisms that work, we advocate at international spaces for change.
The lion's share of public budgets for climate, agriculture and development still goes to conventional agroindustrial projects that contribute to the current climate, food and biodiversity crises. Both ENDS and our partners are calling for a transition to agroecological practices that are people- and environment-friendly.
Agroecology is a diverse set of agricultural practices, a field of science and a social movement. It aims to transform food systems towards greater ecological sustainability, social justice, and resilience. Both ENDS and CSO-partners around the world support farmers and pastoralists practising agroecology, both on the ground and in gathering political and financial support.
Together with JA! Justica Ambiental and ReCommon Italy, Both ENDS wrote a letter to FMO’s investment team urging them to reject a financing of up to USD 150 million in the IFC-led facility for Eni Natural Energies S.p.A. and its subsidiaries in Angola, the Republic of the Congo and Mozambique.
The Dutch development bank FMO is considering a loan to help Eni natural Energies Congo1 to grow its biofuel business in Africa. Together with our partners, we have asked FMO not to go ahead, for three reasons: Eni is a highly profitable oil and gas company that does not need public development, its biofuel projects in Africa have harmed farmers and put pressure on food supplies, and it uses lawsuits to intimidate its critics.
At COP31, Both ENDS advocates for climate finance that reaches women-led and community-based organisations at the forefront of climate action, while challenging the economic rules that obstruct the transition away from fossil fuels. Together with partners in the Global Alliance for Green and Gender Action (GAGGA) and the PAPeS programme, we push for locally led adaptation, gender-just climate action and greater accountability for governments and companies.
We asked our colleagues Daan Robben and Fernando Hernandez why they are going to COP31, what messages they want to bring to negotiators, and what a positive outcome would look like.
