At
a press conference held after the opening session of the 19th Session
of the UN Warsaw Climate Conference, the group observed that Africa is at the
frontline for climate change impacts.
"We
watch with horror what has happened in the Philippines, and know that it is
happening in our homes too," stated Mithika Mwenda, the Secretary General
of the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA).
"I
don't know how rich countries can ignore the facts being screamed by mother
nature, nor the cries being made by the world's poor - the time has come to cut
climate changing causing emissions and to cut them deep," Mwende said.
PACJA
released several briefs outlining their analysis, shared with other civil society
observers, on the issues of equity, markets, pledge and global feed in tariff.
"Africans
expect our governments to stand firm on setting an emissions budget, as
recommended by the IPCC. They must then share this budget fairly, based on
historical responsibility and capacities." Said Dr. Habtemariam Abate,
from Ethiopian Civil Society Network on Climate Change.
According
to him, “these negotiations are about the emissions budget, whether governments
admit it or not, they either negotiate to share that budget fairly, or they plan
to exceed it."
Some
other African civil society has strong and clear proposals for how to deliver
energy to those who do not have it whilst avoiding the trap of dirty fossil
fuels and therefore allowing the continent to live within the emissions budget.
“Proposals
include a globally funded feed in tariff - we expect such a measure to be
adopted here in Warsaw," Azeb Girmai, from LDC Watch, said.
"Warsaw
can be the moment the world chooses clean over dirty energy and Africa will be
leading in that choice," he said.
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