Africa unites on Climate Change negotiations

NaijaAgroNet:

African Ministers of the Environment have agreed on a unified continental position at the Conference of Parties (COP) to the 19th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations in Warsaw, Poland, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Correspondent gathered that the jointly organized event with the NEPAD Agency, African Union Commission and the Environment ministries, saw to the consultative meeting also attended by some Heads of State and chaired by Dr Terezya Huvisa, Minister of State for Environment, Tanzania.

Dr. Huvisa said that with 96 per cent of African agriculture dependent on rainfall and 50 per cent of fisheries related jobs estimated to be lost by 2050, climate change poses unimaginable consequences to livelihoods in Africa.

Thus, the ministers were forthright in calling for a new climate regime that is legally binding and which addresses the continent’s needs after the current regime, which is at end of the Kyoto protocol in 2015.

At the, NaijaAgroNet reports that Warsaw talks the continent will engage the global community on negotiations relating to climate change adaptation measures which Africa, led by the Conference of African Heads of States on Climate Change (CAHOSCC) has consistently flagged as a priority for the continent.

NaijaAgroNet recalls that Africa is responsible for less than three per cent of total global emissions yet bears the brunt of climate change, hence calling for a post Kyoto climate change agreement that is binding, rules-based; predictable, robust, clear, enforceable and scientifically-sound.

The African Ministers also pointed out that historical responsibility in greenhouse gas emissions as well as loss and damage should be addressed in the new agreement. The African group will negotiate on issues such as a programme of work on adaptation, technology transfer and development, capacity development and climate change finance.

Director of Programme Implementation and Coordination at the NEPAD Agency, Mrs Estherine Fotabong expressed confidence in the work of the ministerial body particularly as the continent speaks with one voice and with a unified position. She pledged that NEPAD is always available to assist the AMCEN technically towards presenting a common position for the continent.

“We shall push for all developed countries to commit to new and additional public finance over the period 2013-15, in a way that is transparent and predictable” said Mr Emmanuel Dlamini from the Kingdom of Swaziland who is the chair of the African Group of Negotiators.

The ministerial group indicated that the continent will negotiate for the implementation of commitments made under previous COPs and ensure that mechanisms established from previous decisions such as finance, technology transfer are pursued. The group singled out commitment of new and additional finance that must clearly demonstrate year-on-year increases for climate change initiatives on the continent.

While recognizing the need for Africa to increase domestic resources allocated to Environment and Climate adaptation, they strongly reiterated the obligation of developed countries to allocate public resources to support adaptation actions in developing countries. The idea of an African Climate Change Fund was mooted and supported.

Isaac Oyimah with agency report/GEE
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Climate change: LDCs group make financial demands from rich nations

NaijaAgroNet:

The group of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) at the United Nations (UN) Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), may be spoiling for war as they are demanding climate finance figures from rich nations before December 2013.

Chairman of the LDCs group, Prakash Mathema of Nepal, made this disclosure to NaijaAgroNet at the end of international negotiations under the UNFCCC, insisting that greater financial transparency was needed to implement action to tackle climate change.

This, LDCs group said the industrialised nations should provide detailed information about the finance they are willing to provide to help the vulnerable adapt to climate change.

The LDC Group requests each industrialised country to provide information on the levels of finance they have provided in 2013 and how much they will provide in future years. The group requests this information to include precise allocations for adaptation specifically, along with a breakdown of how much finance is for the LDCs.

The LDCs requested that the richer nations provide this information at COP19, the 19th Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC, which takes place in Warsaw at the end of the year.

As said by LDC Chairman, they expressed deepest appreciation to the Annex 1 Parties who have made substantial contributions towards supporting adaptation in the LDCs.

“But there is too much uncertainty about where the future funds will come from. Delayed climate action and lack of ambition to close the mitigation gap will cost more tomorrow than today. We need to move to a sustainable climate smart pathway where life is possible for all and for generations to come,” he said.

Further, the LDCs, with their weak adaptive capacity and their extreme vulnerability to the adverse impacts of climate change, have already witnessed many catastrophic climate disasters and these events are going to be more frequent, intense and unpredictable.

“We are all aware of the fact that the level of concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has reached 400 parts per million, the highest level for some three million years. This is alarming. We lament the failure of parties to launch the negotiations under the UNFCCC’s subsidiary body for implementation at the UN negotiations which ended Monday,  November 11, 2013 in Bonn," he said.

This, LDCs said is of grave concern to the group as issues of implementation are key for the LDCs.

“We expect this not to happen again at COP19 in Warsaw later this year. Communities around the world have high expectations regarding this process and hope that we, as climate ambassadors, will take some bold decisions very soon to protect humanity from the adverse impacts of climate change. To implement such decisions, financial support is key. We need to act now and we need to act together,” the group said.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE
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FAOSTAT to provide a platform for food statistics

A screenshot of FAOSTAT

FAOSTAT, a new online interface designed to provide easy access to food and agricultural statistics was recently unveiled by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

The online platform according to a press statement made available to NaijaAgroNet has data of 245 countries and 35 regions, and would cover data from 1961 till date.

The Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), International Labour Organization (ILO), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), UN Statistics Division, World Bank and World Trade Organization (WTO) partnered FAO in developing the FAOSTAT portal.

Statistical analyses to be covered at the initial stage of the platform include trade, food balance sheets, food supply, population, prices, production, forestry, investment, resources and commodity balances, while greenhouse gases, food security and agri-environmental indicators are expected to be added over the next few months.

Yinka Awosanya/LS

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Climate Change @ Bonn: LDC group seeks new talk plan, adoption by 75% majority

New dimension has been added to the clamour for a better environmental change with a call by the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) of the world for the United Nations climate change talk to adopt a 75 per cent majority of any latest Protocol with a timeline.

This formed submission by LDC Group at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which holds in Bonn between 14 and 25, May 2012 at the Maritim Hotel.

LDCs are classified as the world’s poorest countries and in order to up persuade the UN climate change to talk more on how to reach their goal of having an effective and legally binding agreement ready for governments to adopt by 2015.

The LDC group chairman, Pa Ousman Jarju, the group’s spokesperson, Sandra Freitas, informed that the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) group’s formal submission to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, under which the talks take place, seeks the inclusion of some demands.

These demands encompass new legally binding agreement to take the form of a new protocol under the convention that builds on and enhances the commitments under the Kyoto Protocol.

Addition to toe six points of demands are that parties should agree new rules to allow the adoption of the Protocol by a 75 per cent majority, not by consensus as under current rules; A final negotiating text should be ready a full year ahead of the 2015 deadline rather than the usual six months deadline that the UNFCCC imposes.

Further, the LDC group noted that this would raise the ambition of commitments to mitigate climate change before 2020 must be the top priority;  The new Protocol should have as a key objective, the full implementation of mitigation, adaptation and finance and capacity building among others; and Systems for monitoring, reporting and verifying finance and mitigation actions must not be weaker than but should build upon those that already exist in the Kyoto Protocol.

Pa Ousman Jarju pointed out that at the last year’s conference of parties to the convention in Durban, South Africa, it was agreed to complete negotiations by 2015, but such deadlines have been broken before.

“Our countries cannot wait. We are already feeling the effects of climate change, but the time has come for us to be leaders in the international effort to address this global challenge,” he said.

Equally, he said, the creation of a new body to negotiate a second protocol under the Convention represents an overdue acknowledgement by all Parties that the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol alone are insufficient to drive action consistent with the ultimate objective of the Convention.

“Urgent action is needed by all Parties to prevent dangerous interference with the climate system, and in particular to stay below 2°C and keep open the possibility of limiting warming to 1.5°C above preindustrial in the long-term as called for by the most vulnerable countries,” he said.

According to the group, as negotiators gather in Bonn for the latest round of talks this week, the LDC group also proposes changes to the way the negotiations work to make them faster and fairer.

NaijaAgroNet recalls that to ensure that all issues could be dealt with, the group says the number and duration of future negotiation sessions must be agreed in Bonn, along with a timetable to discuss particular issues.

The group further says parties should consider electing officers to the bureau that will run the talks for more than the usual two year period, to ensure continuity and that the size of the bureau should perhaps be expanded given the urgency of its task and that wide range of topics it must work on.

Pa Ousman Jarju emphasised that the LDC group comes to the Bonn climate change talks with a strong set of recommendations, stressing “In the spirit of international cooperation and with our desire to see the UN climate change convention meet its objective, we urge other parties to join our call for these improvements to the negotiating process and its final goals.”

 

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