Oliver Mtukudzi leads musicians in rallying for billions in climate funds

Oliver Mtukudzi leads musicians in rallying for billions in climate funds

Oliver Mtukudzi, one of Africa’s most famous musicians, will headline a rally in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, on Saturday, calling for rich countries to commit more funds to help poorer nations combat climate change at global talks in Paris.

Charities and faith groups are organising marches in more than 100 cities around the world ahead of the U.N. climate summit which starts on Nov. 30.

“African negotiators need to stand strong and demand that industrialised countries deliver on their pledges to the Green Climate Fund (GCF),” Ed Pomfret, a spokesman for one of the organisers, Oxfam, said in a statement.

“At least $50 billion annually must go to help developing countries adapt.”

The multi-billion dollar GCF was set up by the United Nations to help poor countries tackle climate change and is a key ingredient for a U.N. climate accord.

The fund will be one of the main channels for donor countries to mobilise over $100 billion a year in aid for developing nations by 2020 from public and private sources.

Disputes over financial assistance for poor countries to help them cut their emissions and deal with the effects of global warming have proven one of the sticking points ahead of the global summit.

Africa, the world’s poorest continent, is among the hardest hit by extreme weather events related to global warming, and least able to cope.

Mtukudzi, affectionately known as “Tuku”, is famed for drawing on Zimbabwean parables to broach sensitive subjects through a career spanning more than three decades.

South Africa’s Max Hoba and Kenya’s Barbara Guantai, Atemi Oyungu and Daddy Owen will also perform.

Late last year, 33 governments pledged over $10 billion to the GCF, but progress in turning promises into actual contributions has been slow.

The fund approved its first eight projects last week, worth $168 million in aid.

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Atemi Oyungu kenya CLIMATE CHANGE Daddy Owen UN climate Barbara Guantai Max Hoba Oliver Mtukudzi

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