Climate Change
Africa Sees U.N. Climate Conference as “Court Case”
for the Continent
Section of a geothermal power plant in Kenya. Some African countries have invested heavily in green energy, showcasing what Africa can do, given resources. Credit: Isaiah
Esipisu/IPS
By Isaiah Esipisu
A
s the clock ticks towards the United Nations climate
change conference (COP21) in Paris in December,
African experts, policy-makers and civil society groups
plan to come to the negotiation table prepared for a legal
approach to avoid mistakes made during formulation of
the Kyoto Protocol.
The Kyoto Protocol is an international treaty which
extends the 1992 U.N. Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC) that commits countries to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions, based on the premise that
global warming exists and that man-made CO2 emissions
have caused it.
“The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change is a legal instrument, and therefore we need
legal experts to argue the case for Africa, using available
evidence instead of having only scientists and politicians at
the negotiation table,” according to Dr Oliver C. Ruppel,
a professor of law at the University of Stellenbosch in
South Africa.
“We must stop complaining and look at how much we
have done ourselves with and without support, look at
our success stories and build a case of what Africa can do
instead of shouting for resources” – John Salehe, Africa
Wildlife Foundation
“It is a court case for Africa, and Africa must argue it out,
and not keep looking for scientific evidence,” Ruppel told
an Africa Climate Talks (ACT!) forum on ‘Democratizing
Global Climate Change Governance and Building an
African Consensus toward COP 21 and Beyond’ last week
in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
The forum, which was organized by the Climate for
Development in Africa (ClimDev-Africa) Programme, was
part of the preparatory process for Africa’s contribution
to COP 21 in Paris.
Africa has always based its climate argument on geopolitics
and science. However, in Paris, experts say that Africa will
have to include a good number of lawyers who will table
existing evidence of what climate