Negotiators laud African civil society group at climate talks

The contributions of African civil society organisations to the consolidation of the African position at the ongoing Climate talks in Warsaw have been described as “integral and far-reaching”.

The Chair of the African Group of Negotiators (AGN), Dlamini Emmanuel, expressed his appreciation of the activities of the CSOs at a meeting with the coalition of African civil societies led by the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA).

The AGN Chair expressed his satisfaction with PACJA’s collaboration with his team and reiterated his team’s commitment to the cry of African people as it relates to ensuring poverty eradication and food security, keeping the continent safe, sharing the atmosphere fairly, and ensuring that industrialized countries cut excessive consumption and pollution with emphasis on protecting and compensating affected communities as well as transferring the tools to adapt and develop the continent.

 

As the negotiations at the 19^th session of the Conference of Parties (COP19) under the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change entered the fifth day, Dlamini has assured the civil society that though the negotiation process is a slow and gradual process.

He is hopeful there will be a solution by the end of the day.

Secretary-General of PACJA, Mithika Mwenda, appreciated Dlamini Emmanuel’s continued engagement with African Civil societies over the past two years and his commitment to Africa.

Mithika assured him of the coalition’s readiness to continue to partner with the negotiating group in every possible ways towards a concrete outcome for the continent in Warsaw.

The civil society is prioritising the safety of the African continent. “We support the acceptance of ‘loss and damage’ as a key area of discussion for the new climate agreement,” said Mithika.

However, the African Civil Society was quick to point out that as the negotiations advance to the next level, the African negotiators must be careful so that the ‘loss and damage’ agenda is not reduced into a disaster response agenda.

“This is beyond disasters. The ocean is already absorbing a lot of heat and this has a direct effect to climatic conditions,” said Mithika.

Other demands by the African Civil Society organisations touched on finances, where they want the developed countries to commit at least 1.5 percent of their GDP to climate change adaptation and technology transfer for the developing countries.

They also want the previous commitment of ensuring the rise of the global temperatures do not exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius be reinstated instead of the new commitment of limiting the rise to 2 degrees Celsius.

“A goal of less than 2 degrees Celsius is no longer ambitious, and accepting it would be condemning Africa to incineration and to no modern development,” said Mithika.