According to Dr. Fatima Denton, Special Initiatives Division, UN Economic
Commission for Africa (ECA), increasing global warming 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,” she said.
She was speaking on “Africa, Climate Change and
Sustainable Development: What Is At Stake At Paris and Beyond?” as theme for the
5th Climate Change and Development Conference in Africa (CCDA-V), holding
in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, 28-30 October, 2015.
The objective is to support the African preparatory
process towards global negotiations of the 21st Conference of Parties
(COP21) of the United Nations Convention Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The immediate effects of climate change in Africa are
being experienced primarily in terms of human security as a result of threats
to food and water supplies.
“Fighting poverty and achieving sustainable development
remains our chief thrust and focus,” said Vice President of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa.
He says COP21 presents a unique chance for Africa to
assert itself in the global climate governance and influence the outcomes of
Paris towards aligning with the continent’s long term sustainable development
agenda.
The ultimate objective of the UNFCCC, according to
Article 2, is the “stabilization of
greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would
prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. Such a
level should be achieved within a time-frame sufficient to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change, to ensure that
food production is not threatened and to enable economic development to proceed
in a sustainable manner.”
Dr. Denton has therefore emphasized that it will not be
in the interest of Africa to relegate Article 2 to the background in the quest for food
security and sustainable 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,” she stated.
A solutions stock taking has been initiated as part of
the CCDA-V.
Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh / in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
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