Africa spells out its agenda ahead of climate change conference in Morocco

Smoke billows from a factory in Shenyang, China. Carbon dioxide is the principal cause of global warming. REUTERS  

By KIARIE NJOROGE, gkiarie@ke.nationmedia.com

As the world prepares to meet in Morocco for the 22nd edition of the Conference of the Parties (COP) on climate change, the North African nation will be pushing for priority to be given to issues affecting vulnerable African and island states as well as financial flows from developed nations to improve resilience.

Morocco is keen for the debate to move beyond rhetoric and agreements and wants COP22 to produce an action plan on how developed countries will assist vulnerable states to deal with effects of climate change.

One of the main items on the agenda will be financing. Developed countries have previously committed to providing Sh10 trillion ($100 billion) annually to developing countries by 2020 to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

But who is responsible for providing the funds (government versus private sector) and how they will be accessed and used has not been defined.
COP 22 will be expected to deal with these issues and in turn unlock more financing for green projects.

“The effective measurement, reporting and verification of climate finance is key to building trust between parties to the convention and is one of the main challenges ahead in this COP22,” the organisers said in a Press release.

The financing is seen as key in helping states like island nations that are disappearing under the sea and African countries which are feeling effects of climate change through droughts, drying up rivers and severe storms and floods.

The money will be used for projects like helping farmers change from rain-fed agriculture to irrigation, develop renewable energy sources like solar and wind and shore up coastal defences.

“This conference is an opportunity to make the voices of the most vulnerable countries to climate change be heard, in particular African countries and island states.

‘‘It is urgent to act on these issues linked to stability and security,” Salaheddine Mezouar, the President of COP22 and Morocco Foreign Affairs minister, said.

“There is no need to come back to figures and projections because the figures are clearly conclusive enough to guide on the steps that need to be taken. Africa cannot stay as a spectator. We need to impose ourselves given challenges we are facing,” said Mr Mezouar.

Africa accounts for three per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions but receives about four per cent of global climate finance.

The continent has been heavily affected due to its reliance on rain-fed agriculture.

Climate change affects the food security and economies of the continent, which mostly rely on farming.

“Almost everywhere in Africa, farming depends entirely on the quality of the rain season, which makes the continent especially vulnerable to climate change,” the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says in an assessment report.

“In COP22, we’ll be looking to make sure that the focus is towards Africa and the continent receives the attention it deserves in terms of financing,” Miriem Bensalah-Chaqroun, the president of General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM) said.

The financing debate will also seek to strike a 50-50 balance on funding for adaptation and mitigation projects.

READ: Climate change brews a storm for East Africa coffee farmers

Mitigation projects like solar and wind power are easily financed as they have good returns. However, adaptation projects like reforestation have little immediate returns and hence struggle for funding.

COP22, which will be held in Marrakech in November, follows the historic Paris Agreement during COP21 in which nations agreed to accelerate and intensify actions and investments needed for a sustainable low carbon future.

The organisers of COP22 have dubbed it the “COP of Action” as they look to create a plan for implementing the Paris Agreement.

“COP22 will focus on action to achieve the priorities of the Paris Agreement, relating in particular to adaptation, transparency, technology transfer, mitigation, capacity building and loss and damages.”

The laying of the groundwork for implementing the Paris Agreement will form another key agenda in Marrakech with indicators pointing to the possibility that the key threshold set for the Paris Agreement to enter into force will be reached before the conference starts.

The Paris Agreement will come into effect once 55 countries have ratified it. The countries must account for at least 55 per cent of the total global greenhouse.

By last Friday, a total of 62 parties representing 49.31 per cent of emissions had ratified the agreement, making its implementation in those countries binding.

The Paris Agreement requires all countries to develop nationally determined contributions (NDCs), which are plans to achieve the goal of keeping the rise of temperatures within two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s office said that 14 other countries, accounting for 12.58 per cent of emissions, will sign the accord this year.

The European Union has also indicated it will ratify the agreement in coming weeks.