Groups representing the African interest at the UN Climate Change Talks (COP21) in Paris are not enthused with the pace of negotiations.

They have expressed pessimistic hope in the outcomes of the expected agreement, as Ministers from some 200 countries start their first day at the climate change talks.

The Ministers will be finalizing the 21page blueprint submitted by negotiators for the global climate deal.

As they get to work, there will be demands from African civil society and others most vulnerable to climate change to provide money to fund adaptation to the impacts of climate change.

The Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) will highlight that African countries, some of those being the most affected by climate change, need no less than $50billion per year for adaptation – along with no more than 1.5 degrees of warming.

Representing some of the countries already being hit hardest by climate change, PACJA and Oxfam will be mobilizing people to wear the message for 'MONEY TO ADAPT NOW' on an armband made of African fabric, and offering these for others to wear to show their support.

“The cry from the climate impacted people of Africa, especially women, children and smallholder farmers, is on the rise. The cries also indicate that they are losing their farmlands and animals to floods and drought which most of the time is all their live savings,” says Mithika Mwenda, Secretary-General of PACJA, a civil society umbrella body.

A briefing of the African Group of Negotiators (AGN) to the African Ministerial Conference on Environment (AMCEN) says “the agreement should be premised on the recognition of development needs and poverty eradication priorities of developing countries, whilst emphasising leadership of developed countries in climate action”.

Dr Khaled Fahmy, Minister of Environment of Egypt, and President of the AMCEN, has called for a united African voice so that Africa wins as a continent.

“Statistics paint a bleak future for Africa. The sea level has risen. People and animals are dying. The stakes are high for us. We need a coherent voice to get solutions to these problems,” he said.

But there are already indications of an outcome that will not be strong enough to deliver on the aspirations of the people in Africa.

“It will be weak, it will be the lowest common denominator; it will not solve the problem that the world is facing,” observed Seth Osafo, a leading member of the AGN. “Knowing the vulnerability of Africa; the continent that is most affected by the adverse impacts of climate change, definitely some of our concerns will be addressed but I don’t think we’ll get everything”.

Among the many loopholes in the 21page blueprint for the global climate deal is how much money developed countries will provide to developing countries in climate adaptation programmes, whilst cutting their greenhouse gas emissions.

The 2009 Copenhagen Accord was to provide short- and long-term ‘climate finance’ to help developing countries adapt to climate impacts. Developing nations pledged $10 billion a year from 2010-2012, ramping up to US$100 billion a year starting in 2020.

This was touted as a way to help developing countries avoid high-carbon pathways of development by adopting lower-emitting power sources such as solar or natural gas.

As at now, only $10.9billion has been pledged, out of which only $5.2billion has been delivered. And developing countries want promises fulfilled.

The Pan-African Parliamentary Network on Climate Change (PAPNCC) is disappointed that rich countries want to backtrack on their earlier commitments to take leadership in climate action, by providing adequate finance and reduce emissions as science demands.

“We are struggling with adaptation on a daily basis especially as we struggle with climate-induced shocks and the need for technical and financial support to do this... We are negotiating our future, the future of our children’s children, as well as the health of the planet,” said Awudu Cyprian Mbaya, Executive Secretary of PAPNCC.

UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, at the meeting with the AMCEN noted that the issue financing should not be regarded as charity.

“Africa is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change,” he noted. “Much of its economy depends on a climate-sensitive natural resource base, including rain-fed subsistence agriculture. This is an area of great opportunity for adaptation and mitigation”.

According to him, “Climate Change may be just one of the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals, but without addressing it properly, all remaining 16 goals cannot be fully implemented. It is critically important that we have a vision implemented in Paris”.

PACJA says this is among reasons for its demand for “climate adaptation finance now”.

“If we come out of Paris with a deal, however weak that it is, that assures that the people that are suffering the most will continue to pay, that a farmer have to be sold a technology to solve his problems relating to climate change, then we have failed,” said Augustine Njamnshi of PACJA Cameroon.