It
is a new order that signals that it is no longer right nor ethical for one
sixth of humanity to go to bed hungry every night; whilst the rest of us
celebrate our increasingly huge appetite for consumable goods.
It
is a new order that suggests that one of our most sacred capitals; our natural
capital cannot be subjected to further reckless exploitation without a renewal
process. It is, indeed, a new dawn to mark the importance of a people inclusive
development and to send clear messages to ourselves and others that we cannot
continue to countenance bankruptcy with our earth’s systems by drawing on
ecological goods and services that our children will most probably not enjoy if
we continue to over-use our scarce natural resources.
We
as actors, must ask ourselves this question:
are we doing enough to stop the current haemorraging of the earth’s
natural resources?
This
is also an important year to celebrate continental initiatives such as ClimDev
Africa and to interrogate whether we have carried forward the bold ambition
that gave our principals the license to dream of a better future and to
envisage a strategy that will set the stage for Africa’s response to climate
change impacts.
Are
we able to replenish, regenerate our soils to ensure that those most dependent
on our natural capital do not find themselves held up in a cul de sac that
bears no signposts?
This
meeting is about our collective security for today and tomorrow. The
ClimDev-Africa programme is essentially about expanding our choices, delivering
on the basis of our knowledge new and old; enabling people to choose new
vantage points; providing the best science and walking through the lens of
strong observations systems and networks to improve agricultural productivity,
to empower farmers, pastoralists and to give decision makers confidence to plan
ahead and make informed and strategic choices.
Indeed,
ClimDev remains responsive to the needs of member states. This has triggered
our support to African Small Islands Developing States (SIDS). An Operational
High Resolution Numerical Weather Prediction and Early Warning Systems is being
developed Africa-wide with specific focus on African SIDS.
Likewise,
ClimDev-Africa programme developed a methodological framework for preparing
Intended Nationally Determined Contributions, and provided technical assistance
for the INDC preparations for Cameroon, Liberia, Malawi and Swaziland.
Through
the Climate Change and Desertification Unit, technical support and input was
provided to the African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change (AGN) in their
preparatory meeting for COP 21, further building their confidence to represent
African priorities.
Responding to the challenges of
finance climate change, the CDSF, Africa’s Green climate Fund, has received a
total of 132 proposals, and 82 were deemed bankable.
The
urgent agenda now, however, is to figure out how fast can we run to repair and
to respond to the critical cascading challenges that we witness ranging from an
alarming rate of degradation of our water resources, soils, food systems, land,
trees and forests and even the air we breathe and the rainfall and temperatures
that we rely on to sustain our people.
Today
is about what Africa can do for itself and with others within a new world order
where it is able to act as the main purveyor of climate resilient development
services. How can Africa process the bounteous natural resources that it has
long enjoyed and open a new window for a service industry that will add value
to its primary products? How can it change the current cycle of an agricultural
system that is struggling to feed its people to a climate smart development
that rhymes with tradeable goods and new markets?
Today
is also about ideas, strategies, plans and action that will support Africa to
sever ties with energy poverty and to deliver on a plan of action that will
enable its children to “power” up their future falling back on the continent’s
rich energy reserves in geothermal, wind and biomass and translating the
anecdotal energy potential into energy action.
Today
is about a confident Africa, an Africa capable of giving new meaning to its
growth story; able to use the argument on historical emissions to say to the
rest of the world – you no longer have the license to emit on our behalf and we
are prepared to invest in smart development by using our current atmospheric
space to green our economies and to build climate resilient infrastructure.
Indeed,
today is symbolised by a confident youth that is demanding a new and fair treaty, not merely one that regulates global
emissions, but a social contract that will hold current generations
responsible, not for what they did, but especially for what they are not
doing. The price of inaction is as grave as the recklessness of continuing to
pollute the earth as we continue to condemn our women and children to a
lifelong exercise of searching for food, fuel and water.
Today
we are confident enough to ask for what we want in Paris. As we sharpen our tools, refine our
strategies; set our priorities, and put our best foot forward united in a
common goal of inclusive development, we must take to Paris a new resolve of
using our numbers, our collective voice, our agency and our strength in
demanding a fair, just and binding treaty abetted by a means of implementation that will align our
commitments to our development priorities, including those Intended Nationally
Determined Contributions that will support our ambitions towards energy
efficiency and agricultural transformation and demand financial commitments.
In
Paris, we demand that the sacred principle of “common but differentiated
responsibility be given a central place. But, whilst we revive this principle,
we must also use it to remind ourselves that the job is not done until we,
ourselves, take our rightful place in the effort to curb emissions,
irrespective of our levels of culpability. This is about our own future.
Africa
in a post Paris conference is about taking deliberate action as champions on
green growth and blue economies; showing the world that we can get it right,
even as late comers through sound technologies and capacity building that will
plug the information and knowledge gap.
It
is not in our interest to relegate Article 2 of
the Convention
on food security and sustainable development to a mere footnote reference.
Inadequate mitigation ambition will have untold consequences, especially to
Africa’s peoples, increasing global warming and will raise the costs of both
adaptation and mitigation due to Africa’s constrained adaptive capacity.
Avoiding dangerous atmospheric interference requires a temperature goal that is
commensurate with current levels of emissions; but it also means that we have
to go beyond business-as-usual emissions.
Africa
is keen to be a strong participant and contributor to a successful outcome in
Paris. It knows that what get’s done, or not, in Paris, may well seal the fate
for millions of vulnerable groups. But, most of all, the message for this
conference is about what can we do today to ensure that no one is left behind.
It
is in conferences such as this that we give meaning to Article 2, and that we
re-create a new dance of diplomacy, global governance, solidarity and a quest
for our collective security. Ladies and gentlemen, the climate risks that we
face are real, but the opportunities for change and for designing a new climate
business model are immense.
A speech by Dr. Fatima Denton, Special
Initiatives Division, UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) at the opening of
the 5th Climate Change and
Development Conference in Africa (CCDA-V)
on the theme: “Africa, Climate Change and Sustainable Development: What Is At
Stake At Paris and Beyond?” at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, 28-30 October, 2015.
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