NAIROBI, Sept. 7 (IPS) – To cool down a burning planet, Africa’s head of state and government unveiled the ‘Nairobi Declaration’ at the first African Climate Summit as the curtain fell on the first African Climate Summit to be held from 4-6 held in Nairobi in September. , 2023, under the theme “Driving green growth and climate finance solutions for Africa and the world.”
The joint statement is a united approach and political leadership for an African vision that simultaneously pursues the climate change and development agenda. With climate change pushing an already fragile continent between a rock and a hard place, African leaders say immediate action is needed.
The statement includes an acknowledgment of the 6th Assessment Report (AR6) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2023, which states that the world is not on track to stay within the Paris-agreed limit of 1.5°C. C and that global emissions should be cut by 45 percent in this decade.
“The report is particularly important because it highlights the interdependence of climate, ecosystems and biodiversity, and human societies – the value of diverse forms of knowledge, and the close links between climate adaptation, mitigation, ecosystem health, human well-being and sustainable development . development,” said James Njuguna of the Ministry of Environment, Water and Natural Resources to IPS.
As such, the Nairobi Declaration underscores the IPCC’s affirmation that “Africa is warming faster than the rest of the world and that climate change, if unabated, will continue to have negative impacts on African economies and societies, and will jeopardize growth and well-being. to obstruct.”
Against this backdrop, UN Secretary-General António Guterres stressed during his speech at the Nairobi Climate Summit that “an injustice burns at the core of the climate crisis, and its flame is scorching hope and opportunity here in Africa. This continent is responsible for less than 4 percent of global emissions. Yet the country is suffering some of the worst effects of rising global temperatures: extreme heat, severe flooding and tens of thousands of deaths from devastating droughts.”
To advance the continent’s climate agenda, the statement identifies several collective actions needed to halt the pace of the ongoing climate crisis and build climate resilience. African leaders urged the global community to act quickly to reduce emissions and deliver on the pledge to provide $100 billion annually in climate finance, as promised at the Copenhagen conference 14 years ago.
Other actions include accelerating all efforts to reduce emissions to align with targets set in the Paris Agreement, delivering on commitments for a fair and accelerated process of phasing out coal , and abolishing all fossil fuel subsidies. And swiftly operationalize the Loss and Damages Facility agreed at COP27 and accelerate the implementation of the African Union Strategy and Action Plan for Climate Change and Resilient Development (2022-2032).
Reducing dependence on fossil fuels and increasing dependence on renewable energy is an important tool in the fight against climate change. Fossil fuels emit the largest carbon footprint of any fuel type and are considered dirty energy, followed by coal. Africa’s abundance of wind and solar energy can simultaneously meet development and climate change adaptation and mitigation goals.
The mitigation costs for a clean energy transition in Africa will amount to approximately USD 190 billion per year until 2030. In 2009, during the 15e Conference of the Parties (COP15), developed countries have committed to the collective goal of mobilizing $100 billion annually for climate action by 2020. As the world community moves towards COP28, the promise is still a broken promise.
Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and South Sudan have suffered an estimated $7.4 billion in livestock losses due to climate change, yet rich countries paid less than 5 percent of the $53.3 billion East Africa needs to tackling the climate crisis.
To cover the costs of climate adaptation and mitigation efforts, the African head of state and government are looking for: “New debt relief interventions and tools to avoid debt defaults – with the option of extending the maturity of sovereign debt and build in a grace period of ten years . New universal global tools to generate additional income.
“Decisive action to promote inclusive and effective international tax cooperation at the United Nations with the goal of reducing Africa’s loss of $27 billion in annual corporate tax revenue through profit shifting by at least 50 percent by 2030 and 75 percent by 2050.”
To advance the continent’s climate agenda, the Nairobi Declaration proposes establishing a new financing architecture that responds to Africa’s needs, including debt restructuring and relief, including the development of a new Global Climate Finance Charter through the General United Nations Assembly (UNGA). and COP processes by 2025.
African leaders have another crucial platform to advance the climate agenda at the Climate Ambition Summit to be held on 20 September 2023 during UNGA High Level Week – as an opportunity for ‘First Movers and Doers’.
‘First Movers and Doers’ refers to people and institutions from government, business, finance, local governments and civil society who are already engaged in climate action and can provide guidance on how to accelerate climate action. Furthermore, the Nairobi Declaration will form the basis for negotiations at the COP28 summit as Africa’s common position in global climate change processes.
Implementing the statement is particularly urgent as the injustice of climate change is such that climate-induced disasters have cornered an already fragile continent, and a highly vulnerable African population is in the eye of a deadly storm.
Malawi, Mozambique and Madagascar were in the crosshairs of the most severe storms in the past 20 years in February and March this year. Deadly floods hit countries such as Chad, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya are experiencing the worst droughts in the past 40 years as a result of five consecutive rainy seasons. Children in 48 of the 49 African countries assessed by UNICEF are at high or extremely high risk of climate change impacts. Children in the Central African Republic, Chad, Nigeria, Guinea, Somalia and Guinea-Bissau are most at risk.
To protect vulnerable communities from the vagaries of climate change, the declaration seeks to hold rich countries accountable for their contribution to the climate status quo and therefore achieve new global carbon taxes, restructure global financial climate infrastructure and decarbonise the global economy. in favor of a more sustainable climate. green economy.
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© Inter Press Service (2023) — All rights reservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
