Climate Change
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,” said John Salehe of the
Africa Wildlife Foundation. “We need to show evidence
of what we can do, then approach the negotiations
positively,” added Ruppel.
Dr Mohammed Gharib Bilal, Vice-President of Tanzania,
observed that Africa has suffered under the Kyoto
Protocol because there were unforeseen gaps. “Since we
are negotiating a new agreement, nobody in Africa will
benefit if we make the same mistakes that were made in
the Kyoto Protocol negotiations,” he told the forum.
According to experts, the Kyoto Protocol was formulated
in a way that was designed to address mitigation of climate
change, rather than adaptation to its impacts.
“The agreement also failed to recognize some countries
which have since emerged as major greenhouse gas
emitters, a fact that has complicated implementation of
the agreement’s mechanisms,” observed Mithika Mwenda,
executive secretary of the Pan African Climate Justice
Alliance (PACJA).
He also noted that the Clean Development Mechanism
(CDM) under the protocol was based on markets, and
therefore failed completely to address climate change in
countries with negligible emissions.
Such gaps must be sealed in Paris and a new agreement
reached or else the world’s sustainable development path
will be jeopardized, warned Bilal.
Nevertheless, the Tanzanian Vice-President recognized
that sometimes Africa expects too much from the
developed countries. “We need to change and change
has to start from within,” he said.” The vision has to
be crafted from within and we have to go to Paris to
champion a narrative and cause that is consistent with our
own development aspirations.”
So far, in response to changing climatic conditions,
African countries have proactively put in place climate
change policies with tools geared towards mitigating and
adapting to their impacts. Some have invested heavily in
clean energy, some have adopted climate-smart farming
techniques, and others have invested in tree growing.
“Africa has lots of capacities but they differ,” said John
Kioli, chairman of the Kenya Climate Change Working
Group. “We need to take stock of what we have, and
negotiate for enhancement of what we do not have.”
Dr Joseph Mutemi, a climate scientist and executive
director of the Africa Centre for Technology Studies,
noted that the playing field has always been tilted to
support pro-mitigation. “As Africa, we need to be
strategic enough to understand where mitigation supports
adaptation and take advantage of it,” he said.” We should
start from the known, then venture into the unknown.”
ACT! seeks to crystallize a conceptual framework
umbrella for Africa’s role in the global governance of
climate change, and to position climate change as both
a constraint on Africa’s development potential as well as
an opportunity for structural transformation of African
economies.
The objective is to mobilize the engagement of Africans
from all spheres of life in the run-up to the Paris
negotiations, increase public awareness of climate change
and the roles people can play in the global governance
of climate change, and elicit critical reflection on the
UNFCCC process among Africans.
Edited by Phil Harris
Climate and health: preparing for Paris
President Hollande of France
early November called it an
“historic” step forward. He was
referring to China’s agreement
to compliance checks on
whatever deal is struck during
COP21—the 21st session
of the Conference of the
Parties to the 1992 Framework
Convention on Climate Change, which begins later this
month in Paris. The agreement of China and the US, the
world’s two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, is crucial
if the goal of the meeting—to keep global temperature
rises below 2°C—is to be achieved. France has extracted
China’s acquiescence to 5-yearly reviews on its climate
commitments. China has pledged to see its CO2 emissions
22
Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • November - December 2015
peak by 2030. The US, meanwhile, must negotiate an
agreement that will be acceptable to Congress.
China is fully conscious of its need to implement more
stringent environmental protection measures. During its
fifth plenary session of the Central Committee of the
Communist Party last week, China’s leaders reaffirmed
their promise to increase non-fossil fuel use by 20%
by 2030. The moment is urgent. China’s Ministry of
Environmental Protection announced that it expected
winter increases in smog in northern Chinese cities. The
cause? Coal-fired heating combined with unusual weather
patterns. That said, the past 5 years has seen declines in
some environmental pollutants. Although a few days are
no reliable scientific indicator of progress, the skies of
Beijing last week were sunny, blue, and clear. China is
positioning itself to be a climate champion at COP21.