African climate experts discuss implications of implementing Paris Agreement

The Sixth Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA–VI) has kicked off in Addis Ababa Ethiopia, with climate experts, government representatives and civil society organizations examining how implementation of the Paris Agreement will impact the continent.

The agreement is an accord within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), seeking for reduction of emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, adaptation and mitigation of the impact of climate change, and financing of those activities.

“The Paris Agreement heralds bold steps towards de-carbonizing the global economy and reducing dependency on fossil fuels,” said James Murombedzi, the Officer in Charge at the Africa Climate Policy Centre (ACPC).

He however said “there are contentious nuances of the agreement that must be unpacked in the context of Africa’s development priorities, particularly in regard to the means of implementation which were binding provisions of the Kyoto Protocol and currently only non-binding decisions in the Paris Agreement.” 

The Paris Agreement on climate change is set to come into effect before the end of the year, with over 80 countries already having ratified the pact, which aims at limiting the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue more ambitious efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels in this century.

For one week, the participants in the Addis Ababa conference will be reviewing the accord so as to provide a contextual analysis of what is at stake for Africa and what the Agreement offers, prior to COP22 in Marrakesh, Morocco 7-18 November 2016, thereby contributing to strategic orientation for African countries in moving forward with the implementation of the Agreement.

The basis of the Paris Agreement is the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) submitted by all parties in the lead up to COP21as their national contributions to limiting global greenhouse gas emissions. INDCs became Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) subsequent to COP21 in Paris.

The main theme of CCDA–VI, organized under the auspices of the Climate for Development in Africa (ClimDev-Africa) programme, is “The Paris Agreement on climate change: What next for Africa?”

The experts observed that implementation of the agreement has significant implications for Africa as the continent that will be most severely impacted by the adverse impacts of weather variability and climate change.

It was further observed that the continent is already experiencing climate-induced impacts, such as frequent and prolonged droughts and floods, as well as environmental degradation that make livelihoods difficult for rural and urban communities.

Increasing migration on the continent is therefore both triggered and amplified by climate change.

Source: PAMACC News