Pacific Farmers head to COP30 in Brazil to discuss direct access to climate finance

Excerpt from islandsbusiness.com

A DELEGATION of farmer-leaders from the Pacific Farmer Organisations will travel to Belém, Brazil, for the UN Climate Summit (COP30) to deliver an urgent message: climate finance must go directly to the farmers and communities on the front lines of the climate crisis.

The delegation’s advocacy is backed by new research revealing a shocking gap in funding. Pacific small-scale farmers require an estimated US$77 million every year to adapt their food systems to climate change, yet they are currently receiving only 1.47% of that amount.

This gap in funding is leaving the region’s food security, culture, and livelihoods dangerously exposed.

Ilisapeci Vakacegu, Programs Manager for Policy and Advocacy at Pacific Farmer Organisations says “The main factor causing this breakdown is accessibility. It takes money just to be able to access a pocket of funding. The system just ends up serving institutions and not farmers.”

Throughout the two-week summit, the delegation will advocate for “direct and fair finance,” urging global leaders to bypass complex intermediaries and channel funds through more agile, farmer-led mechanisms, such as Pacific Farmer Organisations Climate Resilient Farming Framework and the proposed Global Farmer’s Resilience and Empowerment Fund.