Institutional
reform is a key intervention towards ensuring the resilience of African economies
and the livelihoods of communities, says the African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC)
of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).
According
to James Murombedzi, Officer-in-Charge of ACPC, communities have long practiced
many adaptation strategies and devised many viable responses to changing
conditions.
“However,
there are limits to how well communities can continue to practice adaptive
livelihoods in the context of a changing climate. They need the support of an
enabling environment created by government-planned adaptation,” he observed.
He
was addressing a forum on climate governance preceding the Seventh Conference
on Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA-VII) in Nairobi, Kenya.
The
Conference comes on the heels of the IPCC report on Global Warming of 1.5oC
which says the world is heading towards catastrophe if immediate action is not
taken to halt greenhouse gas emissions.
“We
have adequate knowledge of the causes of global warming, and the science is
conclusive. There is no room for climate deniers in this discourse,” said James
Murombedzi. “However, the inaction that we have seen is not because there is
insufficient knowledge or technology or finance. We have enough of these to be
able to change the way in which we produce, distribute and consume goods and
services”
The
report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change confirms what the
impacts of climate change that African is already experiencing.
Mithika
Mwenda of the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) said the implementation
of climate policies remains crucial.
“The successful implementation of Nationally Determined
Contributions (NDCs), a set of actions each country has committed under Paris
Agreement to combat climate change, will be determined by the policy and legal
frameworks which will be laid down by individual countries,” he noted.
African
economies and communities are generally dependent on natural resources. The use
and management of these natural resources also tends to be characterized by
institutional structures which are poor, making them vulnerable to climate
extremes.
CCDA-VII
will focus on mobilizing action towards the achievement of the objectives of
the Paris Agreement.
The
ACPC, through the ClimDev Africa initiative, is already exploring the climate
governance prospects for Africa structural transformation towards achieving the
aspirations of Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“Climate
change is cross cutting. It affects every aspect of life, and our ability to
achieve the SDGs or indeed any of the aspirations of agenda 2063 is constrained
by climate change. Because of its cross cutting nature, climate governance is
complex. It requires the participation of multiple stakeholders, with sometimes
conflicting interests” said James.
With
the support of DfID, the ACPC is also implementing the Weather and Climate
Information Services (WISER) which seeks to promote the production and use of
climate information, and contributes to building the capacities of hydrological
and meteorological authorities across the continent.
The
ACPC has also developed a five year programme which seeks to support African
countries in building resilient infrastructure and economies.
Climate
finance is however a major constraint to climate action.
The
ACPC posits that “if local governments access decentralized climate finance, they
should be empowered to disburse these climate funds for investment in
priorities chosen with communities for adapting to climate change”.
By
Kofi Adu Domfeh
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