African civil society
organizations are pressing for a decision at the Chile Climate Change Summit
taking place in Madrid, Spain, (COP 25) that recognizes the special circumstances
and needs of the continent, which is among the hardest hit and the least
prepared for the adverse impacts of climate change.
Among other things, current
projections show the continent will warm 1.5 times faster than the global mean.
In 2018, the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) revealed in its Special Report that parts of
Africa are already experiencing 2-degree warming, higher than 1.5 previously
estimated.
Regions in Africa within 15
degrees of the equator are projected to experience an increase in hot nights as
well as longer and more frequent heatwaves, according to the UNFCCC
Secretariat.
Climate change impacts will,
therefore, affect Africa more than every other region of the world, even if
ambitious targets to limit global mean temperature rise at 2 or 1.5 degrees are
met. This raises a justice and equity question since Africa only contributes
less than 4% of global emissions and does not benefit from the resources of the
energy-intensive economic development typical of rich countries.
“We cannot be treated like
other regions,” says Dr Mithika Mwenda, Executive Director of the Pan African
Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), the leading voice on climate justice in
Africa. “Without substantial support, Africa will not only be unable to cope
with the devastation of climate change but will be unable to contribute its
share in addressing the problem.”
Demands for a special status
for Africa first emerged in 2015 during COP 21 in Paris, where African
ministers of environment tabled the issue for considerations unsuccessfully.
Informal consultations continued until COP24 in Katowice, Poland, last year.
The question of a special
status for Africa is finally on the COP 25 agenda.
“We believe this is a great
opportunity to recognize that Africa is a special case requiring special
attention to enable us collectively deal with the climate emergency,” says
Augustine B. Njamnshi, chair of the political committee at PACJA. “We call on
parties to take a decision recognising these special circumstances and the
needs that go with them in terms of finance, emergency response and technology
development. Recognising the special circumstances and hence special needs of
Africa will lead to finding solutions to ensure that Africa has the support it
needs to effectively implement the Paris Agreement.”
Africa’s demand to be
considered as a special case is supported by science, says Prof Seth Osafo,
legal adviser of the president of the African Group of Negotiators.
“The IPCC special report
[2018] identifies clearly that Africa continues to be the most vulnerable
region to the impacts of climate change. Last year, the cyclone (Idai) that hit
southeast Africa caused serious destructions and the affected countries
(Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe) and still suffering as a result of this.
“Floods have increased in
many parts of Africa and weather patterns have completely changed. We believe
that Africa needs support, not only in terms of money but also technology, to
deal with these issues and contribute to meeting the global target for
addressing climate change.”
In a position statement,
African CSOs also called on rich countries to step up climate action through
enhanced Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to levels commensurate with
the current estimates of the severity of the climate emergency and urgency of
needed action.
The UNFCCC secretariat
expects COP25 to be a “launchpad for significantly more climate ambition.” Current
commitments, particularly from rich countries, fall short of the level of
emission cuts required to slow global warming and avert a climate breakdown.
“The New York Climate Summit
was revealing in many regards,” PACJA said in a position statement. “It did not only show that the smaller
developing countries are determined to contribute to the fight against climate
change, but that they are even willing to do more (sacrificially) to make sure
that climate change remains in the multilateral space and top on the agenda.
“Seventy or so countries
that have indicated their willingness to enhance their ambition are mostly
small or medium countries. This suggests that the big emitters have still not
come to the table with their enhanced commitments.”
Other positions adopted in
Madrid today include a call for robust and environmental guidelines for
international cooperation and carbon markets; a review of the Warsaw
international mechanism on loss and damage to have a clear means of
implementation, especially for emergency response in Africa; and a demand for
scaled-up finance and capacity building to meet the climate change adaptation
challenge the continent faces.
Hoping to influence
negotiations at multiple levels, African CSOs also asked for the adoption of
common timeframes for a harmonious evaluation of NDCs and pay special attention
to the gender undertones of climate action.
PACJA is the largest
alliance of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) embodying one African voice on
climate and environmental justice with over 1000 members in over 48 countries
in Africa. Its primary goal is to mobilize and empower African civil societies
to ensure the realization of environmental and climate justice for all people
in Africa.
By
Kofi Adu Domfeh
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