Solving climate crisis a good way to silence the guns, says PACJA

Under the theme “Silencing the guns: Creating Conducive Conditions for Africa's Development”, the 33^rd African Union (AU) Heads of State and Government Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, is not fully focusing on climate change.

However, the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), which is activity participating in the event, is drawing attention to the climate crisis and how this can contribute to a peaceful continent in the shortest time possible.

This has been viewed as another way of silencing the gun, as food insecurity, climate related migration and conflict over resources have been key contributors to strife, yet all of them can be managed through adaptation and mitigation.

On the sidelines of the summit, the Climate for Development (ClimDev) Africa partners; the African Climate Policy Centre of UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the African Union Commission (AUC), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and PACJA, hosted a roundtable which was themed “The Global Climate Crisis and the implications on Africa’s Future”.

The roundtable meeting sought to “reflect and take stock of the UNFCCC-COP 25 outcomes, and the implications for the African people”.

Ambassador Seyni Nafo, Coordinator of the African Adaptation Initiative and African Group of Negotiators Spokesperson, in his address, said there was a paradigm shift in the COP negotiations, as the African Heads of State wanted to hear about solutions to climate change from the experts.

“The complex geo-political economy is shaping the climate change discourse, where energy is driving investments globally. Translation of important climate decisions into action on the ground in Africa should be emphasized,” he said.

Of key importance for the meeting was how Africa stood to be affected by the decisions made at the COP25 meet in Madrid, Spain in December 2019, and what would be the best way forward.

Africa failed to achieve a special case status at the COP25, and grapples with challenges from finances, technology transfer, infrastructure improvement for the sake of adaptation and mitigation of the climate crisis.

The Roundtable meeting therefore deliberated on what “Africa stakeholders should focus on, especially in the advent of the NDCs implementation in 2020, shaping its resilient future and its approach to the international dialogue on climate change moving forward”.

“Meeting the climate challenge still means keeping below the benchmark threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius, and thus limiting climate-induced loss and damage effectively,” read a statement from the two day meeting.

According to PACJA Executive Director, Dr. Mithika Mwenda, who addressed the roundtable meeting, CSOs need to work with governments and ensure maximum access to green climate fund to enable capacity building and ensure maximum addressing of the climate crisis.

“Let us work on the policies that will enable the wellbeing of the African people. Push for the policies that will ensure the right knowledge is imparted to the people to ensure preparedness for disaster and development of adaptive infrastructure for the sake of minimising deaths when disasters strike,” he added.

Joseph Masembe, Programme, the Sub-Committee Chair, ACW-2020 National Organising Committee, Uganda, tackled the “Africa Climate Week” topic, laying out key preparations and what should be expected in the April one-week event.

The other key figures attending and speaking at the roundtable meeting are James Murombedzi, Head of Climate Change (ACPC), ECA, Amb. Dr. Alastair McPhail, UK Ambassador to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to African Union, who tackled “Looking ahead to COP26”, and members of the ECA secretariat, who include MrJean-Paul Adam, the Director, Technology, Climate Change and Natural Resources Management, ECA and Harsen Nyambe Nyambe, Head of Division, Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture, AUC.

The panelists have included the President, Pan African Parliament, Linus Mofor, ACPC, ECA, KhuleniMagwaza, Youngo, University and Research Community, Alvin Munyasia of Oxfam International and the Deputy Head of the Ethiopian Delegation.

African NGOs call to stop proliferation of coal, oil and gas at African Union summit

More than 25 organisations, networks and community resistance groups from Africa and around the world have called on African governments to prevent the proliferation of coal, oil and gas in Africa.

They also want leaders to ensure efforts to address fossil fuels match those which have helped reduce the danger from nuclear weapons.

The communiqué signed by the group criticized the deliberate proliferation of coal, oil, and gas in Africa, contrary to scientific evidence and highlighted the contradiction between planned fossil fuel expansion and globally agreed climate targets.

They also condemned the way some African governments were avoiding scrutiny from civil society groups and even violently targeting environmental activists and human rights defenders in some places.

Representatives from the different NGO groups who attended an Africa Energy Leaders Summit on Climate Change, Energy, and Energy Finance in Addis Ababa last week included MELCA-Ethiopia, Oil Change Africa, Health of Mother Earth Foundation, Oxfam, Friends of the Earth, the deCOALonize Campaign and Power Shift Africa.

The rise of fossil fuels as a major threat to human wellbeing and safety was reflected in last month’s 2020 Global Risks Report from the World Economic Forum which, for the first time, saw environmental dangers fill the top five places on the list.

Weapons of mass destruction used to feature highly but it’s now classed as much less likely thanks in part to nuclear non-proliferation treaties. Now the fossil fuel driven climate crisis, which disproportionately affects Africans, is listed as the world’s major threat.

The group specifically called on African leaders to: “Put an end to fossil fuel development; to manage the decline of existing production of oil, gas, and coal; and to rapidly initiate a transition to clean and safe renewable sources of energy that fully supports access to energy for those who currently lack it.” They also ask them to “publicly condemn and reject the double standards advanced by fossil fuel companies and their allied interests, which result in the discriminatory treatment of Africa and her peoples.”

Mohamed Adow, Director of climate and energy think tank Power Shift Africa said: “The fossil fuel industry represents an existential threat to Africa and the world – and to have chance of meeting the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to below 1.5C degrees, international cooperation is required to prevent the proliferation of coal, oil and gas, at the scale and speed required to stabilise the Earth’s climate.

“African countries investing in fossil fuels risk creating stranded assets, and an unmanaged and disorderly transition from fossil fuels. We can either intentionally develop new ways to meet our energy needs without increasing our emissions or altogether lose the window of opportunity to ensure a safe climate and a sustainable future.

“That’s why African civil society are calling for African states and institutions to take a lead in the creation of a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty in order to advance the interests of our continent and its people.”

Omar Elmawi, Coordinator for the deCOALonize Campaign said: “The abundance of renewable energy like wind, solar and geothermal make it possible for Africa to leapfrog dirty fossil fuels like coal that countries in the west had to rely on for their development. Coal and other fossil fuels has lost the war to renewable energy on both environmental and economic grounds. It’s the reason developed countries, including China, are now shutting their coal plants in favour of clean energy.

That is why Africa should tap into its vast renewable energy resources that can power the continent without harming its people or the environment.”

Nthabiseng Matsoha, Earthlife Africa's Researcher and Energy Policy Officer said "Africa has long been pillaged and exploited for its resources, with little benefit to its people. Now, as the world embraces the energy transition away from fossil fuels to low-carbon solutions, there is potential to disrupt existing power dynamics. Its high time the continent’s renewable energy potential benefitted ordinary people. This is especially important as we move towards a 'just transition' to a decarbonised world. Community ownership models should be explored, to not only benefit but empower."