Experts at the UNFCCC’s 22nd Conference of Parties which began on Monday in Marrakech have proposed innovative approaches to solving the African energy challenge.
Gareth Phillips, African Development Bank’s Chief Climate and Green Growth Officer
Speaking at a side event on Renewable Energy Performance Platform as a tool to deliver NDC Objectives on the first day of the conference, the experts believe that Africa’s energy poverty which leaves about 600 million people without access to electricity and McKinsey’s projection on $490 billion investment needed by 2040 for new generation capacity in Africa constitute an invitation to explore innovative ways of overcoming the challenge.
One of such innovative solutions, according to Gareth Phillips, African Development Bank’s Chief Climate and Green Growth Officer, is results-based financing mechanism which allows donors to channel climate finance into different types of energy projects.
“Results-based financing is attractive because it takes away a lot of the risks from the donor and it simply says you give me the results and I will give you the money and it frees up the private and entrepreneurial sectors to come up with solutions to these problems,” Phillips added.
Results-based climate finance as a crediting mechanism is increasingly becoming an avenue to scale carbon mitigation by routing financial flows towards fiscal reforms for renewable energy, incentivise sectoral investments and leverage private capital.
Subha Nagarajan, Managing Director of Africa Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and Andreas Gunst of DLA Piper, were of the view that the Renewable Energy Performance Platform (REPP) which aims to mobilise private investment in renewable energy in sub-Saharan Africa, addresses early-stage barriers to renewable energy project development, and focuses on small- to medium-sized renewable energy projects can rewrite Africa’s energy story for good.
The platform’s innovative approach to providing technical and financial advisory while facilitating access to risk mitigation instruments and finance provided by REPP partners addresses challenges of funding gap, absence of development capital, lack of expertise in financial structuring and access to cheaper funding on the continent of Africa.
Developed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) in collaboration with the AfDB, USAID, OPIC and a host of banks with an initial funding of £48 million from the UK’s Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), the Platform supports technologies in solar, run-of-river hydropower, onshore wind, biomass, geothermal and waste-to-energy with project types such as grid-connected and off-grid, public utilities and private offtakers, greenfield, brownfield and renewable storage hybrids.
African civil society organisations (CSOs) at the ongoing climate change negotiations have warned that if Parties do not urgently raise their pre-2020 ambitions in Marrakech, the impact of low ambition and business-as-usual scenario could trigger even greater climate crisis in Africa.
Mithika Mwenda, Secretary General of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA)
“The outcome from Marrakech should be ambitious enough to protect the rights of poor and vulnerable in the continent most impacted by climate change and provide adequate climate finance to address the impacts,” says Mithika Mwenda, the Secretary General of the Civil Society Platform, Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA).
Finance is key to implementation of the Paris Agreement and the Convention and must be on the table for discussion in Marrakech as one of the important agenda item if Marrakech must be taken serious, he adds.
“Paris Agreement has a goal 1.50C but no prescription for how to achieve it – the pledges would still take the planet to an unthinkable 3.5 degrees of warming. Therefore, the need to improve Paris pledges and ensure prior Kyoto obligations are at least met because low pre-2020 ambition will deepen the post-2020 challenge to the detriment of the poor and vulnerable especially in Africa,” submits said John Bideri from Action for Environment and Sustainable Development, Rwanda and Co- Chair of PACJA’s Continental Executive Committee.
Now that the Paris Agreement has come into effect, stakes appear high on its implementation and Marrakech provides an incredible opportunity to clearly define the path towards achieving the 1.50C target, Bideri addse during the media conference organised by the Alliance.
“In Paris, we demanded equity, fair deal and legally binding agreement. And here in Marrakech, developed country Parties must include and provide clarity on their contributions on all the elements including provision of money for adaptation for developing countries, and particularly Africa,” Robert Chimambo, of Zambia Climate change Network and PACJA member, stresses.
“The role of capacity building and technology in the realisation of the global target through mitigation and adaptation actions can never be over-emphasised. Support to developing countries by developed countries in the spirit of justice and equity in terms of capacity building and technology development and transfer is key to achieving African countries’ commitments in their NDCs even as developed countries embark upon drastic domestic economic-wide emission reduction efforts,” Tracy Sonny, National Coordinator, Botswana Climate Change Network and a member of Pan African Climate Justice Alliance, emphasises.
As news of Donald Trump’s victory in the US Presidential Election on Wednesday spread across the world and reached Marrakech, the Moroccan ancient city hosting the ongoing UN climate change talks, administrators and civil society groups have been reacting to the somewhat shocking development.
US president-elect, Donald Trump
Republican Trump, an unapologetic climate denier, defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton, who said prior to the election that she would continue and extend Obama’s climate policies, including striving to reach the U.S.’s Paris Agreement target of cutting the country’s greenhouse gas emissions by 26 percent or more below 2005 levels by 2025.
While a section of the global community believe that they must unite against Trump to avoid climate catastrophe, others say that a Trump Presidency will not have a negative impact on climate diplomacy as many countries have ratified the Paris Agreement, and that the Paris momentum will continue no matter who is the US President.
COP22 President Salaheddine Mezouar: “As President of the 22nd Conference of the Parties (COP22) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), I would like to congratulate Mr. Donald Trump on his election to the presidency of the United States of America. Now that the Paris Agreement has entered into force, all countries, along with subnational governments and non-state actors, have the shared responsibility to continue the great progress achieved to date.
“The climate change question transcends politics and concerns the preservation of our livelihood, dignity and the only planet on which we all live. We are convinced that all Parties will respect their commitments and stay the course in this collective effort. The Presidency will continue to discuss and mobilise in order to pursue progress already made with all Parties and in a spirit of inclusiveness and determination, particularly with the new American administration.”
Nnimmo Bassey, Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation, stated: “Trump’s election clarifies the fact that the USA as leader of the rich industrialised world seriously undermined the Kyoto Protocol – the only legally binding emissions reduction regime we have had. Outgoing President Obama brought in the Copenhagen Accord at COP15, birthing the voluntary pledge and review system that has now concretised in the Nationally Determined Contributions. The world applauds the Paris Agreement, the USA steps up as a climate champion, but in reality we are avoiding real emissions reduction and global warming is heading in the dangerous direction beyond the acclaimed 1.5 and well below 2 degrees Celsius target.
“Trump stands apart from climate action and offers citizens of the world the inescapable duty to mobilise and support struggles for climate justice and action. And, most importantly, to support ongoing struggles like that at Standing Rock in the USA itself as they stand a chance of being criminalised due to the platform created by the election. In sum, the election exposes the problem in stark colours; exposes victims to higher threats and places a huge question mark on the Paris Agreement.”
Mithika Mwenda, Secretary General of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA): “Yes, we have received Trump’s victory with a lot of concern. While we respect the verdict of US voters, we are quite apprehensive that the Trump Administration will roll back the little gains already achieved in climate policy making in US. He has made it clear that he will nullify President Obama’s signing of the Paris Agreement, terming climate change a Chinese hoax! This is dangerous for the Planet and humanity. It is the people of the US who should make Trump retract his dangerously populist proclamation as he now is a leader of the most powerful nation.”
Jesse Bragg, from Boston-based Corporate Accountability International: “Whilst the election of a climate denier into the White House sends the wrong signal globally. The grassroots movements for climate justice – native American communities, people of colour, working people – those that are at this moment defending water rights in Dakota, ending fossil fuel pollution, divesting from the fossil fuel industry, standing with communities who are losing their homes and livelihoods from extreme weather devastation to creating a renewable energy transformation – are the real beating heart of the movement for change. We will redouble our efforts, grow stronger and remain committed to stand with those on the frontline of climate injustice at home and abroad. In the absence of leadership from our government, the international community must come together redouble their effort to prevent climate disaster.”
“For communities in the global south, the U.S. citizens’ choice to elect Donald Trump seems like a death sentence. Already we are suffering the effects of climate change after years of inaction by rich countries like the U.S., and with an unhinged climate change denier now in the White House, the relatively small progress made is under threat. The international community must not allow itself to be dragged into a race to the bottom. Other developed countries like Europe, Canada, Australia, and Japan must increase their pledges for pollution cuts and increase their financial support for our communities,” said Wilfred D’Costa from the Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development.
“The Paris Agreement was signed and ratified not by a President, but by the United States itself. One man alone, especially in the twenty-first century, should not strip the globe of the climate progress that it has made and should continue to make. As a matter of international law, and as a matter of human survival, the nations of the world can, must, and will hold the United States to its climate commitments. And it’s incumbent upon U.S. communities to unite and push forth progressive climate policies on a state and local level, where federal policy does not reign,” said Jean Su of the California-based Centre for Biological Diversity.
“As a young woman and first-time voter, I will not tolerate Trump’s denialism of the action needed for climate justice. Our country must undergo a systemic change and just transition away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy within my lifetime. The next four years are critical for getting on the right pathway, and the disastrous election of Trump serves as a solemn reminder of the path ahead of us. As young people and as climate justice movements we will be demanding real action on climate for the sake of our brothers and sisters around the world and for all future generations,” said Becky Chung from the youth network, SustainUS.
“Africa is already burning. The election of Trump is a disaster for our continent. The United States, if it follows through on its new President’s rash words about withdrawing from the international climate regime, will become a pariah state in global efforts for climate action. This is a moment where the rest of the world must not waver and must redouble commitments to tackle dangerous climate change,” said Geoffrey Kamese from Friends of the Earth Africa.
“President-elect Donald Trump has been the source of a lot of bluster on climate change over the last year, but now that the election campaign has passed and the realities of leadership settle in, I expect he will realise that climate change is a threat to his people and to whole countries which share seas with the US including my own. The Paris Agreement on climate change became law so quickly because there is a significant national interest for each country in pursuing aggressive climate action and that fact has not changed because of the US election. For the Marshall Islands, strong climate action means surviving and thriving. I look forward to watching Mr Trump live up to his responsibility to protect his people, and others around the world, to provide them with opportunities inherent in the low carbon transition, from more and better jobs, a more prosperous economy and improved health,” submitted Hilda Heine, President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
“Beyond national politics, modernisation of the energy system and of basic infrastructure is good for the US economy, for jobs, for growth,” stated Christiana Figueres, Convenor of Mission 2020 and former Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC.
Christoph Bals, Policy Director of the German NGO Germanwatch: “Donald Trump is the newly elected President of the United States. As of today, the Paris Agreement is an even stronger signal against denying reality and for global cooperation to solve the pressing problems of the world. You cannot ignore the facts. You cannot wish away the reality of the global climate crisis, of the global energy and transport transition or the commitments of the Paris Agreement. This wake-up call will make us fight even harder for human rights, for justice and against climate change.”
Ulriikka Aarnio, International Climate Policy Coordinator at Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe: “It is regrettable that the next US President has not yet understood that the world is on track to phase out fossil fuels. While it is clear that Mr Trump cannot withdraw the US nor undermine the Paris Agreement, there is a risk for the US to miss the boat in a race to a renewable future. There is however no fear that the world’s ongoing energy shift would be troubled by this election result. As more than a half of all countries in the world have ratified the Paris Agreement, it is clear that the Paris momentum will continue no matter who the President of the US is.”
Nathaniel Keohane, Vice President, Global Climate, Environmental Defence Fund: “The next president will be able to make an enormous difference in our fight to protect the long-term health and prosperity of the U.S. and the world. U.S. leadership and climate diplomacy was critical to the climate successes achieved at Paris, and our next president will have the responsibility to establish the U.S. emission target for 2030 – an opportunity to demonstrate continued leadership by putting the country on a path to zero net emissions later this century.”
Michael Wilkins, Managing Director Environmental & Climate Risk Research, Global Infrastructure Ratings, Standard and Poors: “S&P Global supports worldwide sustainability and takes a holistic approach to responsible, sustainable alternatives. As a company, we are focused on decreasing our own energy consumption and since 2013 we have decreased energy use by 22%. We are excited to provide the new administration with the research, data and analytics it will need to further sustainable initiatives here in the States and that set the standard worldwide.”
Achim Steiner, Director of Oxford Martin School and former Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP): “The outcome of the US election clearly implies potential shifts in climate policy of the new US administration. While this creates uncertainty in a domestic and international context, a pragmatic assessment is called for. Notwithstanding short term changes in US posture and policy, the global economy has already begun to shift its focus towards a low carbon future. Markets and economics are likely to moderate any future US policy shift as US companies and investors assess what will keep America’s economy competitive and in business in a global market – given that some its largest trading partners and competitors are already heavily investing in low carbon technologies and infrastructure. Add to that the rapidly growing number of US companies already employing millions of people in low carbon sectors and you can expect a strong domestic voice influencing future policy signals of the incoming administration in Washington.”
Mohamed Adow, Senior Climate Advisor, Christian Aid: “The economics of energy are already changing rapidly, home grown wind and solar are increasingly becoming the cheapest forms of energy and falling costs in technology continue to show us the direction of travel. The benefits are already being recognised by a number of US states which are harnessing their abundant clean energy resources. It’s also popular with the American public. A recent Pew Research Centre study showed that 83 per cent of American adults support expanding wind farms, while 89 per cent support solar expansion. Although the US will certainly suffer from any obstruction of efforts to stop climate change, it also risks the lives of millions of the world’s poorest people who have done nothing to cause the problem yet are the most vulnerable to its effects.”
Tina Johnson, Policy Director, US Climate Action Network: “President-elect Trump has the opportunity to catalyse further action on climate that sends a clear signal to investors to keep the transition to a renewable-powered economy on track. China, India, and other economic competitors are racing to be the global clean energy superpower, and the US doesn’t want to be left behind.”
Maya Golden-Krasner, Senior Attorney, Centre for Biological Diversity: “The new president must protect the people he serves from climate chaos. No personal belief or political affiliation can change the stark truth that every new oil well and pipeline pushes us closer to catastrophe. The administration has moral and legal obligations to meet international commitments and go further to curb pollution and keep dirty fossil fuels in the ground.”
Michael Brune, Executive Director, Sierra Club: “Donald Trump now has the unflattering distinction of being the only head of state in the entire world to reject the scientific consensus that humans are driving climate change. No matter what happens, Donald Trump can’t change the fact that wind and solar energy are rapidly becoming more affordable and accessible than dirty fossil fuels. With both the market and grassroots environmental advocacy moving us toward clean energy, there is still a strong path forward for reducing climate pollution even under a Trump presidency. Still, this is a time for tough choices. Trump must choose whether he will be a President remembered for putting America and the world on a path to climate disaster, or for listening to the American public and keeping us on a path to climate progress. Trump better choose wisely, otherwise – we can guarantee him the hardest fight of his life every step of the way.”
Mariana Panuncio-Feldman, World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) senior director of international climate cooperation: “We have a new administration and a new opportunity to surge forward on climate action. The Obama administration moved mountains to rally the world around combatting climate change. Our new president needs to carry that legacy forward and make good on the promise to make America into the world’s clean energy superpower. US leadership is needed to turn the international consensus of the Paris Agreement into concrete global action, and it starts by charting our own path to a low-carbon future.”
May Boeve, Executive Director,350.org: “Trump’s election is a disaster, but it cannot be the end of the international climate process. We’re not giving up the fight and neither should the international community. Trump will try and slam the brakes on climate action, which means we need to throw all of our weight on the accelerator. In the United States, the climate movement will put everything on the line to protect the progress we’ve made and continue to push for bold action. We need the rest of the world to charge ahead and look beyond the White House to partner with civil society, businesses, and local governments who are still committed to climate action. Our work becomes much harder now, but it’s not impossible, and we refuse to give up hope.”
Kelly Stone, ActionAid Policy Analyst: “Climate change is already having major impacts on the lives of millions of people in the United States and around the world. Droughts, flooding and other types of extreme weather events are becoming stronger and more frequent, and the U.S. is not immune. This is a global crisis that President-elect Trump will have to address. “The U.S. has joined the Paris Agreement and must continue to meet its climate obligations. Leaving this important international agreement will damage our credibility with important overseas partners and would be a major setback in the fight against climate change.”
Catherine Abreu, Executive Director, Climate Action Network Canada: “The world knows that a prosperous future is one that runs on clean energy.Despite the election outcome, cities and businesses and other countries will continue to lead on climate and work to ensure a fair, practical transition for workers entering the new economy. At the North American Leaders’ Summit in June, Canada, Mexico and the United States agreed to work together to develop a continent-wide clean electricity grid and to reduce methane emissions. These actions serve our national and regional interests as much today as they did yesterday.”
Celia Gautier, CAN-RAC France: “At the time of the Kyoto Protocol’s adoption, with the election of President Bush, the EU was key in maintaining the international climate regime and cooperation, that 10 years later led to the adoption of the Paris Agreement. Today’s news should be a wake up call for the EU. Regardless of how Donald Trump decides to act on climate, all countries including Europe have to step up. The political landscape in the US may have changed, but the reality of climate change hasn’t. The reality of climate risks hasn’t. The reality of the multiple co-benefits brought by strong, ambitious climate action hasn’t. In the EU, for each 1% of energy efficiency being achieved, seven million people are lifted out of poverty.”
Ryan Camero, Media and Communications Lead, SustainUS: “On this horrific morning, U.S. youth denounce and grieve the election of Donald Trump. We stand in global solidarity with communities all over the world that have been impacted by U.S. climate injustice and imperialism. We also stand with marginalised communities across the U.S. who wakes up in fear this morning: fear of deportation, fear of violence, fear of being silenced, imprisoned or killed in their struggles. It is now up to us to enact the just and stable future we believe in.”
Climate Action Network (CAN): “No one government or individual, however powerful, can deny the transformational change that is unfolding before us and the growing scientific evidence that we need to act urgently to move away from destructive fossil fuels and embrace a 100% renewable energy future. President-elect Trump must recognise the moral, economic and social imperative to lead and act on climate change and carry forward the commitments made by the United States under the Paris Agreement.”
Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, has reaffirmed his confidence on the members of the National Tobacco Control Committee (NATOCC), saying that they have conducted themselves diligently within the ambit of their statutory role, which is advising him.
Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, says he has confidence in members of the National Tobacco Control Committee
The minister was responding to the advertorial that was published in The Nation newspaper of Thursday 6th October, 2016 titled “SOS: Save National Tobacco Control Committee from Subversive Elements.”
In the said advertorial, a group – Initiative for Public Policy Analysis (IPPA) – while making suggestions on the implementation of National Tobacco Control Act 2015, questioned the activities and integrity of members of the recently-inaugurated National Tobacco Control Committee.
The group also made claims – which the ministry describes as “unsubstantiated” – of attempts by foreign entities to manipulate the implementation of the Tobacco Control Act through insertion of clauses and inducements.
Responding to the allegation, Prof. Adewole said the Ministry of Health has constitutional authority to collaborate with partners, both local and international, in advancing public health initiative in Nigeria.
He said that tobacco remains a global health challenge which also requires collaborative efforts at local and global levels. Such collaboration, according to the minister, had been on for HIV/AIDs, tuberculosis, Polio and other health issues that require local and international expertise to address.
“As it stands the ministry is open to suggestions and advice from any member of the public or group that have meaningful contributions towards the activities of the committee by channelling such through laid down procedure,” the minister was quoted as saying in a statement signed by Boade Akinola, Director, Media and Public Relations, in the ministry.
Prof. Adewole said the ministry remains firm on delivering the mandate of the Tobacco Act in rolling back the tobacco epidemic and eliminating tobacco-related illness and death.
Nigeria’s propositions at the ongoing Seventh Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP7) to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in India appear not to have gone down well with certain circles, especially campaigners, who see this development as an obstacle to progress on protecting tobacco control policymaking from the tobacco industry.
A Students For Liberty activist carries a protest sign at the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control 7th Annual Conference of the Parties (COP7) in New Delhi, India.
Representatives of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have criticised the Nigerian delegation attending the WHO COP7 for promoting tobacco industry interests through what they term “misleading interpretation of the treaty guidelines”.
Some members of the Nigerian delegation reportedly advanced arguments criticising the treaty’s Article 5.3 guidelines limiting Parties’ interaction with the tobacco industry, as well as Articles 9 and 10, which recommend measures to reduce the addictiveness of tobacco products.
In a public statement at the COP, a Nigerian delegate on the Tobacco Control Desk of Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) is said to have attempted to sow doubt about the addictiveness of tobacco products – a familiar tobacco industry tactic – despite decades-long consensus on the issue. The delegate allegedly recommended watering down protections against industry interference in tobacco control policymaking. The Nigerian Ministry of Health is said to be underrepresented in this year’s Nigerian delegation, a development, according to Philip Jakpor, Nigeria Spokesperson, Network for Accountability of Tobacco Transnationals (NATT), is heightening suspicions of broader industry interference.
“It is very disturbing and shocking to civil society and other governments that members of the Nigerian delegation advanced invalid arguments promoted by the tobacco industry, which has a sole aim: raking in profits at the expense of people’s health,” said Jakpor in a statement.
For decades, the tobacco industry has lobbied extensively against tobacco control policies at the national and international levels. In November 2015, a whistleblower reportedly revealed British American Tobacco’s bribery of a Burundi delegate in an attempt to water down, weaken, and block progress on tobacco control at the FCTC. Given Big Tobacco’s well-documented history of influencing FCTC delegates to promote its agenda, participants at these negotiations raised questions about whether Nigeria’s comments were influenced by the industry.
Hellen Neima, a tobacco control advocate from Uganda attending the Conference of the Parties, said: “The Nigerian position was the lowest moment of the discussion yesterday. It came in stark contrast to the applause received by other African governments who stood in firm support for protection against tobacco industry intimidation and bullying.”
Members of civil society warned that Nigeria’s comments may threaten advances to public health, including guidelines around the toxicity of tobacco products. Article 9 proposes guidelines for testing and measuring of the contents and emissions of tobacco products, and regulation of the contents and emissions, while Article 10 requires manufacturers and importers of tobacco products to disclose to governmental authorities information about the contents and emissions of tobacco products. They also urged countries to stay united in their prioritisation of public health over the industry’s interests.
“The global tobacco treaty makes it explicitly clear that tobacco industry interference poses the single greatest threat to tobacco control. The confusing proposition by Nigeria has the potential of rolling back the united position of the African bloc on the underlying issues,” said John Stewart, deputy campaigns director with Corporate Accountability International.
Despite the Nigerian delegation’s objections, a majority of Parties to the global tobacco treaty support a suite of public health provisions, including ones that protect public health policymaking from the tobacco industry’s influence. According to a WHO report released this week, Parties to the treaty recognise the industry as the biggest threat to progress.
The global tobacco treaty negotiations are taking place in Greater Noida, India, from November 7-12. The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is estimated to save more than 200 million lives when fully implemented.
Africa should avoid the “Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) trap” by perpetually pushing capacity building and miss out on serious climate funding opportunities, Balgis Osman Elasha of the African Development Bank (AfDB) has said.
Balgis Osman Elasha of the African Development Bank believes that the continent could not benefit from the CDM because it was caught up in the capacity building mode while others were taking action
Dr. Osman Elasha, who is the Principal Climate Change officer at the bank’s Quality Assurance and Results Department, says “Africa could not benefit from the CDM because it was caught up in the capacity building mode while others were taking action.”
The CDM of the Kyoto Protocol provided for emissions reduction projects aimed at to assist parties not included in Annex I in achieving sustainable development and compliance with their quantified emission limitation and reduction commitments.
“For Africa to benefit from the Paris Agreement, we should, this time avoid the CDM trap”, Dr. Osman Elasha told delegates at an AfDB side event on Tuesday on Day 2 of the UN Climate Change conference currently holding in Marrakech, Morocco.
Discussing “Access to means of Implementation-key concern for Africa post COP 21,” Dr. Osman Elasha said there is no room for Africa to waste on capacity building while the rest of the world would be taking action.
The panel discussion focused on the challenges that Africa faces and windows of opportunities that the continent could take advantage of, in the implementation of the Paris Agreement.
Seen as a historic Agreement and fastest international treaty to enter into force, the Paris Agreement which is anchored on the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), places obligations on all Parties to fulfil what is contained in their climate action plans.
However, for Africa, several gaps have emerged, one of which is the vagueness of most African countries’ NDCs, even before the bigger issue of means of implementation (finance and technology transfer) is brought into picture.
“The way forward is a major challenge for most developing countries – it’s not just about getting the money but also what to do with it to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement,” said Kurt Lonsway, Manager for the Climate and Environment portfolio at AfDB.
Lonsway, however, was quick to point out that the Bank stands by its commitment to support African states as they seek to rework their climate action plans to ensure that they benefit from available climate funding windows.
And in keeping up with the African challenge theme, Advisor of the African Group of Negotiators, Seth Osafo, lamented the lack of in-country coordination among key climate players in most African countries.
“While it is collectively agreed that there is lack of capacity to develop bankable projects to access climate finance, another African tragedy is the lack of coordination within African countries,” said Osafo, adding that some country focal points end at representing their countries at negotiations without sharing key decisions with other key players in their respective countries.
Osafo, who is former legal advisor at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), observed the need to improve in-country linkages especially between the Ministries of Environment, which, in most African countries, carries the climate change portfolio, with Finance.
“For example, the ministries of finance are the key financial mobilisation units of most governments but their linkages with the environment are almost not existent on matters of climate change and resource mobilisation and/or allocation,” he bemoaned.
The Paris Agreement on climate change entered into force on 4th November 2016. The landmark agreement, reached at COP 21 in Paris last year, aims to limit the increase in the global average temperature to “well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and to pursue efforts to “limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels” in this century.
However, while some African countries are among the Parties that have already ratified the Agreement, analysis by the African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) revealed that most African NDCs are vague in their adaptation and mitigation aspirations.
With the continent contributing approximately five percent to global GHG emissions and considered the most vulnerable to climate change vagaries, the overarching theme for Africa’s participation at COP 22 has been the way forward post COP 21, given the nuances surrounding the Agreement especially on means of implementation.
“There are contentious nuances of the agreement that must be unpacked in the context of Africa’s development priorities, particularly in regard to the means of implementation which were binding provisions of the Kyoto Protocol and currently only non-binding decisions in the Paris Agreement,” concludes James Murombedzi, Officer in Charge of the ACPC, highlighting the importance of focusing on what matters for Africa – climate finance.
Organised for the first time in the history of UN Climate Change Conferences (Conference of the Parties, or “COPs”), the Action Day for Water at the ongoing UN Climate Change Conference in Marrakech (COP22) created through the Global Climate Action Agenda calls for more attention to water as a way of providing solutions to help implement the Paris Climate Change Agreement.
Charafat Afailal, Minister Delegate in charge of Water of Morocco
Countries have identified water as a key to adaptation in 93% of their national climate action plans (Intended Nationally Determined Contributions, or “INDCs”). Water is fundamental for food security, human health, energy production, industrial productivity, biodiversity, in addition to basic human needs and its availability, says the Global Climate Action, adding that ensuring water security means ensuring security in all these domains.
The body adds that water is critical for successful climate change mitigation, as many efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions depend on reliable access to water resources. It notes that systematically addressing these challenges is, therefore, key to adapting to climate change and reducing the negative impacts of water-related disasters.
On this occasion, the “Blue Book on Water and Climate” will be launched by the Moroccan Government and its partners as a concrete outcome of its interim International Conference on Water and Climate, hosted in Rabat in July 2016, in cooperation with the Government of France and the World Water Council.
The publication collects the orientations and recommendations brought forth by the international water community to support the implementation of climate commitments and propose a variety of concrete and applicable solutions related to adaptation and resilience through water management.
“This aligns perfectly with COP22, which is striving to be a COP of action!” said Mrs. Charafat Afailal, Minister Delegate in charge of Water of Morocco. “Now, we need to realise what is at stake, since water insecurity leads to increased conflicts, tension between populations, and also provokes migration that threatens overall stability.”
Climate justice is also a priority of the Water Action Day, as evidenced by the launching of the “Water for Africa” initiative, established by the Kingdom of Morocco and supported by the African Development Bank. This initiative aims to render justice to Africa through the adoption of a specific action plan that will mobilise different international political, financial and institutional partners to improve water and sanitation services and management in Africa, for those most affected by climate change.
“While humanity experiences increasing demographic and socioeconomic stresses, recent episodes of extreme climate around the world bring additional complexities in finding solutions to reduce these stresses. Water is one of the most impacted resources, but water also provides solutions to these challenges,” said Benedito Braga, President of the World Water Council.
In addition, the three alliances for basins, megacities and businesses, created at COP21 in Paris and strongly engaged in water and climate action, which today represent more than 450 organisations worldwide, signed a common commitment to mobilise jointly their partners, identify and disseminate good practices and support the development of new projects by actors on the ground engaged in adaptation and resilience of the water sector.
These three Alliances reported, in particular, during the hater showcase event on the positive progress made with the Flagship Projects on water adaptation launched at COP21, such as the hydrological information system of the transboundary Congo River, the integrated management of the Hai River in China, the strengthening of the new Mexico Metropolitan Organisation for Urban flooding drainage or the “Eco-cuencas” Climate adapt cooperation project between European and Andean countries and on new adaptation projects announced at COP22 Water day, for example, the Sebou River management in Morocco, the creation of the Water Adapt Training Centre in Brasilia or the future use of the SWOT satellite for Hydrological observations, inter alia”.
“Adaptation of water resources to climate change must be organised at the natural level of national or transboundary basin of Rivers, lakes and aquifers, where water is flowing from up-stream to down-stream, and mobilise all actors in the field, including local authorities, economic sectors and civil society to achieve, in concertation and in due time, a common vision to face the climate change challenges,” said Roberto Ramirez de la Parra, the President of the International Network of Basin Organisations.
France and Morocco’s global climate champions have set out their detailed agenda to boost cooperative action between governments, cities, business, investors and citizens to cut emissions rapidly and help vulnerable nations adapt to climate impacts and build their own clean energy, sustainable futures.
Climate champions, Hakima El Haité and Laurence Tubiana, said: “A year after COP 21, the great dynamic of climate action is now growing strong. As we all gather to Marrakech time has come to start to take stock of what has been achieved during the last year.
To be consistent with the long-term goals, all actors will have to work together, not only to achieve the national targets of the national climate action plans (Nationally Determined Contributions), but also to go further and bridge the gap of emissions. This sense of urgency should guide us all in accelerating immediate efforts and delivering ambitious action. We must identify what concrete policy options and what tools we will have to mobilise in the short term.
“The science is clear: the path towards achieving the long-term goals should bring us to peaking greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. This is a challenge, and we are not there yet. On the current trends, we will be in 2030 between 11 to 14 GT above Paris-compatible pathways. The purpose of these events is to strengthen all efforts and take them to the next level to stay on track for the objectives: stay well below 2°C and if possible 1,5°C, increase adaptation and resilience capacities and reorient financial flows. It is our responsibility, as champions, to make the link between the real world and the COP process. Political leaders from all around the world should hear and be inspired by the solutions at our reach.”
An initiative aimed at expanding access of local communities to modern energy services (such as solar energy) under the Sustainable Energy for All (Se4All) programme being promoted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN) has been transforming the livelihood and lifestyle of rural communities affected by the Boko Haram insurgency in Hong Local Government Area (LGA) of Adamawa State, Northeast Nigeria.
After experiencing deadly attacks last year by rampaging Boko Haram militants that resulted in considerable human and material casualty, returnee residents of the communities are now picking up the pieces of their lives. Solar-powered fridge-freezers in health centres, solar water boreholes fitted with 10,000-litre capacity overhead tanks, as well as solar home and outdoor lighting systems provided under the Se4All are re-awakening hitherto depressed health sector, educational standard, social interaction and business ventures in no fewer than 12 benefitting communities in Hong.
The Garaha Mojili community in Hong LGA is a case in study.
Aminichi Edwards, a Junior Community Health Extension Worker (JCHEW) at the Garaha Primary Healthcare Centre in Garaha Mojili, Hong LGA, stands beside one of the two fridge-freezers provided the clinic. She says that, compared to before when the hospital had no such equipment, drugs and vaccines such as the Hepatitis B Vaccine can now be stocked and thus readily available for administration to newly born babiesA patient at the clinicA dwelling unit in the community destroyed by Boko Haram militantsMonday Benson, a trader and beneficiary of the solar lamp: “Before now, I spent about N200 every day to fuel the generator. I am now able to save more money as I no longer buy fuel for the generator. In fact, every month, I save about N5,000 in my account, something I was not able to do before. This is very good for me because I plan to get married very soon.”Mrs Alpha Williams, farmer and business woman: “I now save a lot of money from constant purchase of batteries to power torchlight and kerosene for lanterns. Also, at night, my children read and do their homework with the solar lamp, which I at the same time use to charge my phone. Everything is so convenient and life is now so much easier for us. We also don’t need to go far to fetch water. As you can see, the water station is just by my doorstep. We say thank you to the UNDP and ECN for this kind and timely gesture.”Members of the community say that the initiative has helped to improve their lot, even as they attempt to recover from the insurgency attacks
Leading up to the UNFCCC Conference of Parties (COP 21) in Paris in December 2015, countries submitted their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), outlining the post-2020 climate actions that each country intends to take. INDCs, which describe long-term greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction pledges by each country, form the building blocks of the Paris Agreement. As countries formally join the Paris Agreement, the term “intended” is no longer needed and their commitments are referred to as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC).
The White Paper analysed INDCs of 37 countries
To help climate change practitioners understand the commitments made in INDCs and to support strategic decision-making, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Resources to Advance LEDS Implementation (RALI) Programme recently undertook an analysis of 37 INDCs, including Nigeria, who are primarily partner countries in the U.S. Government’s Enhancing Capacity for Low Emission Development Strategies (EC-LEDS) programme. Each country profile in the “Analysis of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions” provides an overview of the country’s climate strategy based on information from the INDC; key documents such as National Communications and Biennial Reports; and external data sources.
For each country analysed, the RALI report summarises the:
Unconditional and conditional GHG emissions reduction targets
Analytical basis for developing the emissions reduction targets
Mitigation actions being undertaken by the country
Adaptation strategies
Existing policy framework of the country’s INDC
Financial and technical assistance requested
Each country profile also includes insights on data quality and transparency, the most recently submitted GHG inventory to the UNFCCC, national GHG emissions by sector, and key documents for further consultation.
The list of countries involved
Key Findings.
The RALI analysis resulted in several topline findings:
A majority of the countries included conditional commitments
Few countries offered detail on the analytical basis of their proposed goals
While many countries stated that they need financial assistance to implement their INDCs, few explained how much assistance was needed
Most countries developed their INDCs based on current existing policies and plans, such as their Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs)
The findings suggest that countries may need support in refining mitigation goals, assessing costs, and prioritising needs as they finalise their INDCs and ratify the Paris Agreement.
RALI also analysed the selected INDCs for sectoral trends. Over 80% explicitly identify the energy sector as a priority area. LULUCF is the second most common sector, with countries outlining activities related to improving forest management, forest law management, land rehabilitation, and participation in REDD+. Transport is the third most prevalent, with countries indicating an intention to expand mass transportation, adopt cleaner vehicle fleets, and transition to cleaner fuels.
Priority sectors for GHG mitigation
NAMAs
Several countries identified NAMAs as either a useful basis upon which to build their targets, or as a possible mechanism to help implement their targets. Some countries noted that their existing NAMA submissions informed the mitigation actions they proposed to fulfill their target. Ghana, for example, used its existing NAMA submissions to better understand what measures are feasible to implement and what resulting emission reductions could be expected. Some countries also emphasised their intention to use NAMAs as mechanisms for meeting their emission reduction targets. Because NAMA development provides countries with clear, linear paths to mitigation funding, at least one country noted that the implementation of their NDC depends on international support through the NAMA framework.
With the Paris Agreement entering into force this year, countries will need to begin refining and implementing the activities outlined for each sector in their INDC. For many countries, NAMAs will be the main instrument to map out and implement their mitigation actions. NAMAs and the NAMA registry can support countries in meeting the transparency requirements under the Paris Agreement and provide countries with a pathway to access financing.
The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has published a detailed analysis of the global climate in 2011-2015 – the hottest five-year period on record – and the increasingly visible human footprint on extreme weather and climate events with dangerous and costly impacts.
Extreme weather: A flooded neighbourhood off Allen Avenue, Ikeja after the June 2011 rainfall
The record temperatures were accompanied by rising sea levels and declines in Arctic sea-ice extent, continental glaciers and northern hemisphere snow cover.
All these climate change indicators confirmed the long-term warming trend caused by greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide reached the significant milestone of 400 parts per million in the atmosphere for the first time in 2015, according to the WMO report which was submitted to the U.N. climate change conference.
The Global Climate in 2011-2015 also examines whether human-induced climate change was directly linked to individual extreme events. Of 79 studies published by the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society between 2011 and 2014, more than half found that human-induced climate change contributed to the extreme event in question. Some studies found that the probability of extreme heat increased by 10 times or more.
“The Paris Agreement aims at limiting the global temperature increase to well below 2 ° Celsius and pursuing efforts towards 1.5 ° Celsius above pre-industrial levels. This report confirms that the average temperature in 2015 had already reached the 1°C mark. We just had the hottest five-year period on record, with 2015 claiming the title of hottest individual year. Even that record is likely to be beaten in 2016,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.
“The effects of climate change have been consistently visible on the global scale since the 1980s: rising global temperature, both over land and in the ocean; sea-level rise; and the widespread melting of ice. It has increased the risks of extreme events such as heatwaves, drought, record rainfall and damaging floods,” said Mr Taalas.
The report highlighted some of the high-impact events, citing statistics on losses and damage provided by other United Nations organisations and partners. These included the East African drought in 2010-2012, which led to an estimated 258,000 excess deaths, and the 2013-2015 southern African drought. Approximately 800 deaths and more than $40 billion in economic losses were associated with flooding in South-East Asia in 2011. Heatwaves in India and Pakistan in 2015 claimed more than 4,100 lives. Hurricane Sandy, in 2012, led to $67 billion in economic losses in the United States of America. The deaths of 7,800 people were associated with Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines in 2013.
The report was submitted to the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The five-year timescale allows a better understanding of multi-year warming trends and extreme events such as prolonged droughts and recurrent heatwaves than an annual report.
The WMO will release its provisional assessment of the state of the climate in 2016 on 14 November to inform the climate change negotiations in Marrakech, Morocco.
Highlights
2011-2015 was the warmest five-year period on record globally and for all continents apart from Africa (second warmest). Temperatures for the period were 0.57 °C (1.03 °F) above the average for the standard 1961–1990 reference period. The warmest year on record to date was 2015, during which temperatures were 0.76 °C (1.37 °F) above the 1961–1990 average, followed by 2014. The year 2015 was also the first year in which global temperatures were more than 1 °C above the pre-industrial era.
Global ocean temperatures were also at unprecedented levels. Globally averaged sea-surface temperatures for 2015 were the highest on record, with 2014 in second place. Sea-surface temperatures for the period were above average in most of the world, although they were below average in parts of the Southern Ocean and the eastern South Pacific.
A strong La Niña event (2011) and powerful El Niño (2015/2016) influenced the temperatures of individual years without changing the underlying warming trend.
Ice and snow
Arctic sea ice continued its decline. Averaged over 2011-2015, the mean Arctic sea-ice extent in September was 4.70 million km2, 28% below the 1981–2010 average. The minimum summer sea-ice extent of 3.39 million km2 in 2012 was the lowest on record.
By contrast, for much of the period 2011– 2015, the Antarctic sea-ice extent was above the 1981–2010 mean value, particularly for the winter maximum.
Summer surface melting of the Greenland ice sheet continued at above-average levels, with the summer melt extent exceeding the 1981–2010 average in all five years from 2011 to 2015. Mountain glaciers also continued their decline.
Northern hemisphere snow cover extent was well below average in all five years and in all months from May to August, continuing a strong downward trend.
Sea level rise
As the oceans warm, they expand, resulting in both global and regional sea-level rise. Increased ocean heat content accounts for about 40% of the observed global sea-level increase over the past 60 years. A number of studies have concluded that the contribution of continental ice sheets, particularly Greenland and west Antarctica, to sea-level rise is accelerating.
During the satellite record from 1993 to present, sea levels have risen approximately 3 mm per year, compared to the average 1900–2010 trend (based on tide gauges) of 1.7 mm per year.
Climate change and extreme weather
Many individual extreme weather and climate events recorded during 2011–2015 were made more likely as a result of human-induced (anthropogenic) climate change. In the case of some extreme high temperatures, the probability increased by a factor of ten or more.
Examples include the record high seasonal and annual temperatures in the United States in 2012 and in Australia in 2013, hot summers in eastern Asia and western Europe in 2013, heatwaves in spring and autumn 2014 in Australia, record annual warmth in Europe in 2014, and a heatwave in Argentina in December 2013.
The direct signals were not as strong for precipitation extremes (both high and low). In numerous cases, including the 2011 flooding in South-East Asia, the 2013–2015 drought in southern Brazil, and the very wet winter of 2013-2014 in the United Kingdom, no clear evidence was found of an influence from anthropogenic climate change. However, in the case of the extreme rainfall in the United Kingdom in December 2015, it was found that climate change had made such an event about 40% more likely.
Some impacts were linked to increased vulnerability. A study of the 2014 drought in south-east Brazil found that similar rainfall deficits had occurred on three other occasions since 1940, but that the impacts were exacerbated by a substantial increase in the demand for water, due to population growth.
Some longer-term events, which have not yet been the subject of formal attribution studies, are consistent with projections of near- and long-term climate change. These include increased incidence of multi-year drought in the subtropics, as manifested in the 2011-2015 period in the southern United States, parts of southern Australia and, towards the end of the period, southern Africa.
There have also been events, such as the unusually prolonged, intense and hot dry seasons in the Amazon basin of Brazil in both 2014 and 2015, which are of concern as potential “tipping points” in the climate system.
The WMO is the United Nations System’s authoritative voice on weather, climate and water.
