New Report Underlines Potential to Make Significant Greenhouse Gas Emission Cuts

A new report packed with best practice climate policies from across the world reveals a wealth of existing opportunities to immediately scale up reductions in greenhouse gas emissions while powering up ambition to keep the global average temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius.

“Climate Action Now – A Summary for Policymakers 2015” http://climateaction2020.unfccc.int/spm/introduction/ underlines how nations can deploy a wide range of proven policies and utilize existing initiatives to meet the common challenge of climate change and sustainable development. The report also sits on a new microsite http://climateaction2020.unfccc.int/ highlighting the potential for greater climate action and ambition before 2020, when the new Paris Agreement comes into effect.

It also highlights both national and international cooperative actions while underling the vital role of non-State actors such as companies, cities, regions and provinces in realizing bigger reductions in current and future emissions.

The report, released by the secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at the request of governments, provides a straightforward, inspiring go-to-reference to assist ministers, advisors and policymakers pursuing climate actions now and over the years and decades to come.

The findings spotlight how effective policies across six key thematic areas not only reduce emissions rapidly but also advance goals in 15 other critical economic, social and environmental areas.

The report underlines that the intended national climate action plans which almost 170 countries have already submitted towards the new climate change agreement in Paris, in December, have an inordinate potential to go further and faster, assisting nations to over-achieve on their pledges.

“Under the UNFCCC, governments have over the past few years led a significant effort during a series of technical expert meetings to identify and scope out the policies that lead to effective climate action – this report is the fruit of that effort,” said Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC.

“It underlines the myriad of remarkable transitions that are already occurring nationally and internationally in areas ranging from renewable energy to transportation and land use. In doing so it provides governments and their partners with the blueprints and tool-kits to cost-effectively catalyze action now and take the Paris agreement to the next level of long term ambition,” she added.

“The remarkable reality revealed in this report is that the very policies that deal most effectively with climate change also offer a ready-made portfolio of actions that can equally assist the Sustainable Development Goals and achieve everyone’s ultimate aim of a prosperous, stable and environmentally healthy world for all,” said Ms. Figueres.

Barriers to Greater Ambition

The report pinpoints broadly four areas that are holding back taking climate action to scale.

Carbon Pricing – putting an adequate price on carbon will encourage investment in and use of low-carbon technologies and fuels

An estimated 40 national and more than 20 subnational jurisdictions have or are planning to introduce a price on carbon. The report urges more to follow suit.

Inefficient Subsidies – close to $550 billion was spent on direct fossil fuel subsidies in 2013 which in turn works against investments in low carbon fuels and clean energy

The report notes that the G20 and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum have all pledged to reduce such subsides with several developing countries like Angola, Egypt, Indonesia and Morocco ‘taking advantage of low oil prices to cut fossil fuel subsidies’.

Finance and Capacity-Building – Developing countries need enhanced support to access technologies and finance up-front costs.

The report notes that additional investment averaging $1 trillion a year will be needed in the energy sector until 2050 ‘in order to stay below the 2 degrees C threshold’.

Institutional, Regulatory and Legal Frameworks – the institutions charged with implementing or overseeing climate action need to be equipped with appropriate resources and mandates says the report

It calls for governments to ramp up the strategies, regulations and laws including the engagement of civil society and private sector actors in order to catalyze further national and non-State actor action.

Corruption in Ghana to be acculturated if Christians fail to act

The spate of corruption in Ghana could soon become a culture if Ghanaians, especially Christians, fail to take the lead in uprooting corrupt acts from all facets of society.

This is the concern of a former President of the Ghana Baptist Convention, Rev. Dr. Kojo Osei-Wusuh, who says corrupt practices have gained root because of a general disposition for “dishonest gains”.

He is particularly unhappy with teachers who tend to make money out of poor students through the sale of handouts.

“The teaching profession is not to make money; if you want to make money get out into the business world,” he charged. “Today in Ghana, a lecturer who has taught students and at the end ultimately must test the students to find out whether what he taught them they know, then he reveals the question to them; what kind of life is this?”

Rev. Dr. Osei-Wusuh, who is President of the Ghana Baptist University College and a Board Member of the Ghana Integrity Initiative, also bemoaned the abuse of protocol admissions into schools.

“Now it doesn’t matter what the merits of admissions are; the chief has a whole list, the regional minister has a whole list, the MP has a whole list, and they call it protocol and we all are condoning it,” he told a congregation at the Grace Baptist Church in Kumasi.

He has charged Christians to openly and aggressively stand up against “deep seated” corruption, even to the point of death.

“We need to go out in the streets and challenge people, we need to challenge people in our offices against corruption, we need to expose people. In this country if we don’t begin doing this, we all will die and our children who are following us will think that corruption is our culture,” Rev. Osei-Wusuh warned.

Dr. Osei-Wusu says Christians must willingly lead the crusade against corruption.

“How many of us here, even though we say we are Christians, are able to stand up against corrupt acts, even if we’re not joining it?” he quizzed. “It’s not a matter of you being compelled, it’s a matter of willingly doing what the master wants you to do”.

He spoke on the sermon title: “Crowns as Heavenly Rewards”.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Ghana’s wood furniture industry on the road to revival

Yusif Momeen is a master craftsman in wood furniture manufacturing in the Upper West region.

In years past, he has had challenges in producing knock-down or flat-pack furniture, which entails artistic joinery to assemble and dismantle a piece of furniture.

Today, Yusif says he has acquired new skills and knowledge to produce furniture that can compete with others the world over.

“There is no need for people to travel out of Ghana to China to bring in products,” he said. “Currently I can say the woodworkers have upgraded our knowledge and we know very well that if more support is given to us, we can even do more than what is produced in China”.

The influx of foreign furniture and other wood products into Ghana has compelled many local woodworkers to fold up their businesses.

Imports of furniture are estimated at an annual $60million. The resultant impact is a reduction in the contribution of woodworkers to the country’s economy, especially in job creation, revenue generation and poverty alleviation.

Research indicates the real estate sector has championed the importation of furniture to the neglect of the local industry.

To sustain the industry, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) has over the years collaborated with industry players, including the Wood Workers Association of Ghana (WAG), Ghana Timber Millers Organization (GTMO) and the Domestic Lumber Trade Association (DOLTA).

But this has not wholly yielded the needed results, partly based on low patronage which stems from the perception of poor quality of domestically produced products and services.

Woodworkers also have their own challenges, including access to state-of-the-art equipment, access to credit and continuous education and skill training to be abreast with new trends in production.

The Skills Development Fund (SDF) under the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET) is providing a grant for the skills upgrade.

COTVET has contracted the Forestry Commission Training Centre (FCTC) to train master craftsmen of the Woodworkers Association of Ghana (WAG) across the country.

Yusif is among 800 members of the WAG who have so far been trained in the use appropriate technology, innovation and entrepreneurial skills to improve the quality of their products and compete favorably.

WAG President, Reynolds Debrah, says the beneficiaries are expected to train about 1,600 apprentices at their various workshops.

“Education without skills breeds unemployment and poverty,” he noted. “Students from JHS and SHS should be encouraged to have a vocation; this will reduce the high rate of unemployment in the country”.

The Trade and Industry Ministry has announced a national stakeholder conference on the wood furniture industry with the objective of strengthening the sector for job creation and economic growth.

In line with the Ministry’s “Made-In-Ghana Campaign” initiative, the conference will discuss the development of a three-year action plan to revive the local industry.

“The action plan will result in the achievement of an expanded furniture manufacturing environment with a vibrant employment opportunity of at least 15% to 20% by end of the project,” says the Ministry. “It will also create an entrepreneurial growth with expected increased avenues for businesses and improved networking processes that will reduce the importation of furniture into the country by 15% by the end of the programme”.

The Plan is contained in an overall concept paper which is being developed into a policy. Thematic areas include financing options for growing the local furniture industry; raw materials availability and off-cut utilization-expanding materials sources, capacity building; access to markets; and networking and awareness building.

Partners for the conference include the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, the Forestry Commission and the Housing Data Ghana Limited.

For now, the woodworkers want assistance from the Forestry Commission to make legal lumber easily accessible on the domestic market in compliance with the timber legality assurance system (TLAS) of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement between Ghana and the EU.

Listen to audio report...

https://soundcloud.com/kofi-adu-domfeh-1/wood-furniture-industry-on-the-road-to-revival

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Resource hospital labs with modern diagnostic equipment – GABMLS charges government

The Ghana Association of Biomedical Laboratory Scientists (GABMLS) has called on the government to adequately resource public hospital laboratories with modern diagnostic equipment.

The group says such equipment should include electrophoresis and High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) machines to help provide quality laboratory diagnostic services for accurate diagnosis and management of diseases including Sickle Cell Diseases and Thalassemia.

“We further urge the Ministry of Health, to as a matter of public health priority, to upgrade and build the capacity of the National and Regional Public Health Reference Laboratories in the country to Biosafety levels III/IV status to be able to adequately and safely handle epidemic prone infectious diseases including Ebola,” said the GABMLS in a communiqué issued at the end of its 2015 Annual National Congress in Tamale.

The Congress was on the theme: “Ensuring Effective Management of Medical Laboratory Services in a Regulated Environment”.

The GABMLS, as the sole professional body of all medical laboratory professionals in Ghana, says it is committed to building capacity and promoting professional development of its members to be able to provide laboratory services that meet international standards.

“We urge all medical laboratory practitioners to pursue continuing professional development and take advantage of the Quality Management Systems (QMS) courses soon to be rolled out across the country,” said the statement signed by President, Thomas Kwabena Gyampomah and General Secretary, Michael Amo Omari.

The Association has reiterate its calls for the Ministry of Health to take immediate steps to launch and operationalize the three National Health Laboratory policy documents – the National Health Laboratory Policy, National Health Laboratory Strategic Policy, and National Health Laboratory Accreditation Policy.

It has also entreated the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) to “unbundle medical laboratory services and pay fee-for-service to make funds available for the procurement of relevant laboratory supplies and reagents for delivery of uninterrupted quality laboratory services that will enhance quality healthcare delivery in our hospitals for the benefit of the citizenry”.

The Ministry of Health has also been asked to direct Heads and Managers of public hospitals to set aside established revolving funds for laboratories for the procurement of laboratory supplies and reagents for uninterrupted laboratory services.

World Bank’s “Shock Waves” report applauded by Climate Investment Funds

The Climate Investment Funds has welcomed and applauded the World Bank’s new report, “Shock Waves: Managing the Impacts of Climate Change on Poverty”.

The report makes clear the fundamental connection between the goals of stabilizing climate change and eradicating poverty – neither can be achieved without the other.

The good news, as the report indicates, is that “good development” in the next 15 years can prevent the worst potential impacts of climate change on the world’s poor. “Good development”, according to the report, is rapid, inclusive, and climate informed.

CIF Program Manager Mafalda Duarte says “The findings of ‘Shock Waves’ should shock the global community into ramping up its ‘good development’ efforts. This report shows why it is so important that leaders work for an ambitious deal at United Nations climate negotiations this month in Paris.”

“Climate change is hitting poor people first and worst,” says Duarte, “‘Shock Waves’ estimates that without sufficient good development, climate change could push an additional 100 million people into extreme poverty by 2030. For the sake of people and planet, we need to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and invest in a more resilient future.”

The CIF is the world’s largest active multilateral climate finance vehicle, with US$8.1 billion to date of climate finance. CIF programs channel money to communities, enabling them to carry out projects that secure their livelihoods and increase their capacity to cope with climate change.

CIF is working in 72 developing and emerging countries worldwide, transforming these countries into leaders in inclusive development that increases climate resilience.

The CIF is already supporting 44 projects with US$791 in nine countries and two regions (including nine small island nations) to help them adapt to climate change.

The CIF leverages about eight dollars from other sources for every one dollar it contributes directly: at this rate, the CIF is likely to drive an estimated $US57 billion in climate finance from other sources to emerging markets worldwide.

Climate Change could push 100m more people into poverty, report

Climate change is already preventing people from escaping poverty.

According to a new World Bank Group report, there could be more than 100 million additional people in poverty by 2030, without rapid, inclusive and climate-smart development, together with emissions-reductions efforts that protect the poor.

The report: “Shock Waves: Managing the Impacts of Climate Change on Poverty” is released before the international climate conference in Paris later this year.

The report finds that poor people are already at high risk from climate-related shocks, including crop failures from reduced rainfall, spikes in food prices after extreme weather events, and increased incidence of diseases after heat waves and floods.

It says such shocks could wipe out hard-won gains, leading to irreversible losses, driving people back into poverty, particularly in Africa and South Asia.

“This report sends a clear message that ending poverty will not be possible unless we take strong action to reduce the threat of climate change on poor people and dramatically reduce harmful emissions,” said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim. “Climate change hits the poorest the hardest, and our challenge now is to protect tens of millions of people from falling into extreme poverty because of a changing climate.”

The report finds that the poorest people are more exposed than the average population to climate-related shocks such as floods, droughts, and heat waves, and they lose much more of their wealth when they are hit.

In the 52 countries where data was available, 85 percent of the population live in countries where poor people are more exposed to drought than the average.

Poor people are also more exposed to higher temperatures and live in countries where food production is expected to decrease because of climate change.

The report, released a month before negotiators gather in Paris for international climate talks, shows how ending poverty and fighting climate change can be more effectively achieved if addressed together.

Seeking climate deal from Kyoto to Paris – an African Perspective

Climate change has massive implications for development in Africa, a continent that contributes the least greenhouse gasses but stands to lose the most with climate change because of its vulnerability and limited adaptation capacity.

The 5^th Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA-V) in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe had the theme: “Africa, Climate Change and Sustainable development: What is at stake at Paris and beyond?”

Presentations and discussions at the conference were shaped in ways that concrete proposals could be elicited to strengthen Africa’s contributions at COP 21 which opens in Paris, France at the end of November.

In Paris, a new universal climate governance regime is expected to be adopted, which will come into effect in 2020.

Seth Osafo, a member of the African Group of Negotiators (AGN) and former Legal Advisor to the UNFCCC spoke at the CCDA-V on the subject “Kyoto to Paris – an African Perspective”.

In an interview with Kofi Adu Domfeh, he begins by touching on the African voice at COP21 and the political commitment of African governments in the articulation and implementation of INDCs.

Listen to interview:

https://soundcloud.com/kofi-adu-domfeh-1/audio-seeking-climate-deal-from-kyoto-to-paris-an-african-perspective

Africa: a climate vulnerable continent in search for negotiation partners

Africa is expected to go into the UN climate talks in Paris this December with one voice and one position, to demand climate justice for the people on the continent.

With the impacts of extreme weather conditions dawning on people and livelihoods, local farmers and communities will be looking out for a way out of their climate vulnerabilities.

Africa is therefore emphasizing climate adaptation and finance to effectively deal with the effects of climate change.

“For us in Africa, adaptation is the priority; climate change is already affecting our people, so if we have any emphasis, then it has to be on adaptation,” said Seth Osafo of the African Group of Negotiators (AGN).

But mitigation is also being forced on developing countries, as evident in African countries’ Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) to the UNFCCC.

“It’s been pushed on us but we have to willingly say that we are also happy to embrace mitigation; but mitigation for prosperity, mitigation for development,” said Fatima Denton of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), addressing the media at the close of the 5^th conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA-V).

Africa has been regarded as the battle ground for competing global interest in the climate negotiations leading to the 21^st Conference of parties (COP21).

The European Union, for instance, seems to converge with the African Group in the areas of adaptation and finance but not on climate mitigation.

It has been argued that Green House Gas emissions of some developing countries have dramatically increased over the last 10 years at such point that they are now among the biggest emitters in absolute terms, while the already high emissions of the industrialized countries have generally remained the same.

At the 4^th EU-Africa Summit in Brussels last year, climate change was among the main challenges discussed. One of the outcomes was a Declaration in which the European Union and the African Union reiterated their willingness to work together to fight climate change and to ensure that an effective agreement will be reached in 2015.

“We believe that by discussing on the needs, challenges and priorities for Africa and by exchanging on our respective positions, we can be part of the process towards a satisfactory agreement in Paris,” said Cristina Vicente Ruiz, EU Delegation to the AU when she addressed CCDA-V. “The EU is looking forward to continue working closely with the African partners on Climate Change in the framework of our Joint Strategy to define, defend and implement our common interests”.

The top priority for the EU going to the COP21 is also to secure a legally binding, ambitious and fair new agreement that will keep us on track below the 2°C objective.

According to Mr. Osafo, getting a fair deal will require that African ministers going into the negotiations “be strong in putting forward the position of Africa”.

Africa is already looking up to China as a partner to reckon with to become climate resilient.

“We can identify areas where Africa desperately needs Chinese intelligence, technology and investment to advance in climate adaptation and mitigation,” observed Dr. Fatima Denton. “We can actually go on a partnership, building relationships where we can say Chinese can help support Africa’s renewable energy sector; Chinese can help in terms of building climate resilient infrastructure; Chinese scientists can help Africa in terms of moving smallholder farming into commercial agriculture”.

China-Africa relations have often been analyzed in the light of a zero-sum game.

But Dr. Denton says the climate partnership should not be based on a new kind of imperialism but a win-win partnership “whereby both China and Africa stand to benefit”.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh 

AUDIO REPORT: Business as usual not tenable in the face of climate change

Business leaders across sectors the world over are taking practical steps to tackle climate change through sustainability.

From high-tech firms that develop new clean energy technologies to businesses who integrate sustainability into their company culture, businesses are redefining “business as usual” through climate action.

People, Planet and Profit are the three core areas on which sustainable businesses, or green businesses, focus. 

Balancing all three is important to meeting the needs of current generations without compromising future ones.  

The changing climate could exacerbate the challenge of energy generation and food security in developing economies like Ghana. But there are also opportunities.

In the following report, Kofi Adu Domfeh explores the place of Ghanaian businesses and industry in the global climate space.

https://soundcloud.com/kofi-adu-domfeh-1/business-as-usual-not-tenable-in-the-face-of-climate-change

Green Climate Fund under pressure to shun HSBC and Credit Agricole

Campaigners have urged the UN's Green Climate Fund to reject the involvement of HSBC and Credit Agricole, ahead of COP21.

A group of 88 NGOs, charities and academic bodies has penned an open letter to the board of the GCF, claiming that the accreditation of the two banks, which is currently being considered, would "pose serious reputational and moral risk to the GCF".

Accreditation allows an institution to receive and distribute money on behalf of the GCF. In July, Deutsche Bank came under similar fire from NGOs after it was accredited by the fund.

"The banks' accreditation would undermine the GCF's commitment to robust fiduciary standards and strong environmental and social safeguards... and would be contrary to what the GCF Secretariat has described as having 'GCF standards [that] build on best practices of global institutions'", said the letter, which was signed by Friends of the Earth, ActionAid US and BankTrack Netherlands, among others.

According to the group, the two banks rank among the top 20 private banks to finance coal. Credit Agricole invested more than €7 billion in the coal sector between 2005 and 2014, while for HSBC this figure was more than €7.9 billion.

"Both banks also back non-fossil-fuel-based sectors with a large negative impact on climate. HSBC is a major financier of Indonesia's palm oil sector, a sector characterised by driving deforestation on a vast scale, industrial agricultural excess, degradation of carbon-rich peatlands, human rights abuse, and labor exploitation," it said.

"Accredited entities should have exemplary policies and practices in place to adequately deal with potential social, gender equality, environmental, and human rights risks of the projects they finance. This is not the case with HSBC and Crédit Agricole," it continued, adding that HSBC has been accused of "bankrolling" logging companies in Malaysia.

The letter did not propose an alternative bank that would be deemed more suitable to receive and distribute the funds of the GCF. A spokesperson for Friends of the Earth, which led the campaign, told Environmental Finance that no "international banks should have direct access to GCF funds".

HSBC and Credit Agricole did not respond to requests for comment ahead of publication.

Global response to Climate Change keeps door open to 2 degree limit

An unprecedented world-wide effort is underway to combat climate change, building confidence that nations can cost effectively meet their stated objective of keeping a global temperature rise to under 2 degree C.

A new report, assessing the collective impact of over 140 national climate action plans, indicates that together they can dramatically slow global emissions into the atmosphere.

Another key finding is that the aggregate impact of the “Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs)” will lead to a fall in per capita emissions over the coming 15 years.

“These INDCs–or national climate action plans–represent a clear and determined down-payment on a new era of climate ambition from the global community of nations. Governments from all corners of the Earth have signalled through their INDCs that they are determined to play their part according to their national circumstances and capabilities,” said Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

“Fully implemented these plans together begin to make a significant dent in the growth of greenhouse gas emissions: as a floor they provide a foundation upon which ever higher ambition can be built. I am confident that these INDCs are not the final word in what countries are ready to do and achieve over time–the journey to a climate safe-future is underway and the Paris agreement to be inked in Paris can confirm, and catalyze that transition,” she added.

Today’s report released by the UNFCCC secretariat captures the overall impact of national climate plans covering 146 countries as of 1 October 2015. This comprises 119 separate INDCs from 147 Parties to the UNFCCC, including the EU, a single Party representing 28 countries.

Since then, more INDCs have been submitted and submissions are likely to continue.

The 146 plans include all developed nations and three quarters of developing countries under the UNFCCC, covering 86% of global greenhouse gas emissions – almost four times the level of the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, the world’s first international emission reduction treaty that required emissions cuts from industrialized countries.

One of the key findings is that the INDCs will bring global average emissions per capita down by as much as 8% in 2025 and 9% in by 2030.

“The INDCs have the capability of limiting the forecast temperature rise to around 2.7 degrees Celsius by 2100, by no means enough but a lot lower than the estimated four, five, or more degrees of warming projected by many prior to the INDCs,” said Ms. Figueres.

The secretariat report does not directly assess implications for temperature change by the end of the century under the INDCs because information on emissions beyond 2030 is required.

However other independent analyses have, based on a range of assumptions, methodologies and data sources, attempted to estimate the impact of the INDCs on temperature leading to a range of average estimates below, at or above 3 degrees C.

Importantly all deliver more or less similar emission levels in 2025 and 2030 and all confirm that the INDCs, if fully implemented, are an important advance on previous scenarios.

“These plans set a determined course, clearly recognizing that successful climate action achieves not only low emissions but a host of other economic and social benefits for governments, citizens and business,” said Ms. Figueres.

“Backed by financial support for developing countries, a clear long term destination of climate neutrality in the second half of the century and a ratcheting up of ambition in a structured, transparent and timely way, the INDCs provide an inspiring part of what will become the Paris package,” she said.

An accompanying report to be published in November from the UNFCCC secretariat – “Climate Action Now” a Summary for Policymakers – will underline the enormous emission reduction potential and multiple economic benefits possible from best practise climate policies across major sectors
from energy to transport, from buildings to forests.

Africa needs multilateral climate funds but domestic resource mobilization is critical

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has called for a more climate resilient investments in Africa because the current global climate financing architecture is not providing the finance needed by the continent.

“Africa is shortchanged by climate change,” said Bank representative, Mary Manneko Monyau. “Africa is shortchanged by the lack of sufficient climate financing. Much more needs to be done to increase Africa’s access to climate finance”.

She was addressing the fifth conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA-V), an annual event convened by the ClimDev-Africa program to deliberate on climate change and economic development in the continent.

Ms. Monyau has noted that “Climate change is no longer a domain for scientists and climate experts” due to the evidence of impacts on economic development and livelihoods, especially agriculture and ecosystems.

The Bank is therefore committed to enhancing Africa’s access to multilateral climate funds, but also to facilitate the mobilization of domestic resources from private and public sources. 

Mr. Seth Osafo, Ghanaian climate change expert and member of the African Group of Negotiators, has emphasized the need for countries on the continent to commit local resources to implement climate activities.

He cites the experience of vulnerable Bangladesh which managed to mobilize $200million from its local resource to address adaptation and other impacts of climate change – the country later leveraged an additional $400million from the international community.

“If we are to move on as Africa and be able to address it aside from incorporating climate change issues into our development plans, we need also to put resources – our own resources – into addressing the problem before we can also leverage additional funds from other countries,” said Mr. Osafo.

The African Development Bank has spent nearly US$7 billion towards climate finance in Africa between 2011 and 2014 – Energy and Agriculture are the Bank’s two major areas of focus.

President of the Bank, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, recently announced that the Bank will step up climate financing by 40 percent to US$ 5 billion per year by 2020.

These investments will be delivered within the framework of five priority areas that build on the Banks Strategy for 2013-2022 – including Feeding Africa, Lighting up Africa, Integrating Africa, Improving the Livelihoods in Africa and engaging more with the Private Sector.

The Bank has worked closely with the African Group of Negotiators, and fully supports the African Common Position under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Key elements of Paris agreement include global commitments that are ambitious enough to keep temperatures below 2 degrees centigrade and availing finance and mechanisms to enable Africa adapt to the impacts of climate change.

The Bank has also significantly stepped up its support for African countries to build resilience to the impacts of climate change, but also to seize the opportunity to drive low-carbon, climate-resilient growth.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh | Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

UK funds £20 million climate research programme in Africa

A new UK government-funded initiative will put £20 million behind leading-edge research to better understand Africa’s changing climate and the use of climate change information in decision-making across the continent.

Africa’s climate is one of the least-researched and poorly understood in the world, but looks set to change significantly in the decades ahead.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded that temperatures could warm up to 6^oC on the continent this century, and vast areas could experience more intense drought or rainfall than known before.

Governments and the private sector currently plough US$70 billion into infrastructure investments in Africa each year.

There are major questions over whether these investments will be resilient to the climate of the future.

Future Climate for Africa (FCFA) is supporting five major research projects to develop better climate information for Africa and to test how the new information could be used in decision-making.

FCFA is a joint programme of the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) and Natural Environment Research Council.

Dr Tim Wheeler, DFID’s Deputy Chief Scientific Adviser, said: “FCFA will not only improve the climate information available to African decision-makers, but it also aims to work with both scientists and stakeholders across the continent to ensure that information is better tailored to users’ needs and to strengthen the skills of users in the interpretation and use of climate information”.

“African societies are already affected by climate change including sustained droughts, deadly floods and rising sea levels, which entrench poverty and undermine economic growth,” said Stefan Raubenheimer, Director of FCFA’s Coordination, Capacity Development and Knowledge Exchange unit. “The Future Climate for Africa programme will provide high quality climate information to help governments and businesses make more climate-resilient investments. The programme will safeguard economic development and contribute to the fight against poverty in the long term.”

For full descriptions of the research awards, visit: www.futureclimateafrica.org

A New World Order for Climate Change

2015 has been a year of cascading transitions. Whilst these transitions can be branded as the  end of the Millennium Goals,  the ushering in of the Sustainable Development Goals or a  successor treaty to Kyoto in Paris this December, the reality is that we are making space for yet another  new world order.

It is a new order that signals that it is no longer right nor ethical for one sixth of humanity to go to bed hungry every night; whilst the rest of us celebrate our increasingly huge appetite for consumable goods. 

It is a new order that suggests that one of our most sacred capitals; our natural capital cannot be subjected to further reckless exploitation without a renewal process. It is, indeed, a new dawn to mark the importance of a people inclusive development and to send clear messages to ourselves and others that we cannot continue to countenance bankruptcy with our earth’s systems by drawing on ecological goods and services that our children will most probably not enjoy if we continue to over-use our scarce natural resources.

We as actors, must ask ourselves this question:  are we doing enough to stop the current haemorraging of the earth’s natural resources?

This is also an important year to celebrate continental initiatives such as ClimDev Africa and to interrogate whether we have carried forward the bold ambition that gave our principals the license to dream of a better future and to envisage a strategy that will set the stage for Africa’s response to climate change impacts.

Are we able to replenish, regenerate our soils to ensure that those most dependent on our natural capital do not find themselves held up in a cul de sac that bears no signposts?

This meeting is about our collective security for today and tomorrow. The ClimDev-Africa programme is essentially about expanding our choices, delivering on the basis of our knowledge new and old; enabling people to choose new vantage points; providing the best science and walking through the lens of strong observations systems and networks to improve agricultural productivity, to empower farmers, pastoralists and to give decision makers confidence to plan ahead and make informed and strategic choices.

Indeed, ClimDev remains responsive to the needs of member states. This has triggered our support to African Small Islands Developing States (SIDS). An Operational High Resolution Numerical Weather Prediction and Early Warning Systems is being developed Africa-wide with specific focus on African SIDS.

Likewise, ClimDev-Africa programme developed a methodological framework for preparing Intended Nationally Determined Contributions, and provided technical assistance for the INDC preparations for Cameroon, Liberia, Malawi and Swaziland.

Through the Climate Change and Desertification Unit, technical support and input was provided to the African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change (AGN) in their preparatory meeting for COP 21, further building their confidence to represent African priorities.

Responding to the challenges of finance climate change, the CDSF, Africa’s Green climate Fund, has received a total of 132 proposals, and 82 were deemed bankable.

The urgent agenda now, however, is to figure out how fast can we run to repair and to respond to the critical cascading challenges that we witness ranging from an alarming rate of degradation of our water resources, soils, food systems, land, trees and forests and even the air we breathe and the rainfall and temperatures that we rely on to sustain our people.

Today is about what Africa can do for itself and with others within a new world order where it is able to act as the main purveyor of climate resilient development services. How can Africa process the bounteous natural resources that it has long enjoyed and open a new window for a service industry that will add value to its primary products? How can it change the current cycle of an agricultural system that is struggling to feed its people to a climate smart development that rhymes with tradeable goods and new markets?

Today is also about ideas, strategies, plans and action that will support Africa to sever ties with energy poverty and to deliver on a plan of action that will enable its children to “power” up their future falling back on the continent’s rich energy reserves in geothermal, wind and biomass and translating the anecdotal energy potential into energy action. 

Today is about a confident Africa, an Africa capable of giving new meaning to its growth story; able to use the argument on historical emissions to say to the rest of the world – you no longer have the license to emit on our behalf and we are prepared to invest in smart development by using our current atmospheric space to green our economies and to build climate resilient infrastructure.

Indeed, today is symbolised by a confident youth that is demanding a new and fair  treaty, not merely one that regulates global emissions, but a social contract that will hold current generations responsible, not for what they did, but especially for what they are not doing. The price of inaction is as grave as the recklessness of continuing to pollute the earth as we continue to condemn our women and children to a lifelong exercise of searching for food, fuel and water.

Today we are confident enough to ask for what we want in Paris.  As we sharpen our tools, refine our strategies; set our priorities, and put our best foot forward united in a common goal of inclusive 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.

In Paris, we demand that the sacred principle of “common but differentiated responsibility be given a central place. But, whilst we revive this principle, we must also use it to remind ourselves that the job is not done until we, ourselves, take our rightful place in the effort to curb emissions, irrespective of our levels of culpability. This is about our own future.

Africa in a post Paris conference is about taking deliberate action as champions on green growth and blue economies; showing the world that we can get it right, even as late comers through sound technologies and capacity building that will plug the information and knowledge gap.

It is not in our interest to relegate Article 2 of the Convention on food security and sustainable development to a mere footnote reference. Inadequate mitigation ambition will have untold consequences, especially to Africa’s peoples, increasing global warming and 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.

Africa is keen to be a strong participant and contributor to a successful outcome in Paris. It knows that what get’s done, or not, in Paris, may well seal the fate for millions of vulnerable groups. But, most of all, the message for this conference is about what can we do today to ensure that no one is left behind.

It is in conferences such as this that we give meaning to Article 2, and that we re-create a new dance of diplomacy, global governance, solidarity and a quest for our collective security. Ladies and gentlemen, the climate risks that we face are real, but the opportunities for change and for designing a new climate business model are immense. 

A speech by Dr. Fatima Denton, Special Initiatives Division, UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) at the opening of the 5^th Climate Change and Development Conference in Africa (CCDA-V) on the theme: “Africa, Climate Change and Sustainable Development: What Is At Stake At Paris and Beyond?” at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, 28-30 October, 2015.