BY DARGIE KAHSAY
The 27th session of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNCCC) on climate change, the Conference of the Parties (COP 27) will take place in Sharm El-Sheikh city of Egypt from 6-18 November 2022. More than 190 countries of the world are due to attend the conference..
The African continent and the host country, Egypt is preparing for the event. The COP 27 is expected to give due opportunity to the African continent to actively participate and voice its position in global climate change and negotiations on climate change.
Experts in the sector are arguing that the two-week climate change meeting in Sharm El-Sheikh is an opportunity for the over 190 countries of the world that signed up to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992 to take action to mitigate the worst effects of the climate crisis and adapt to its impacts. In this regard, Africa, the least carbon emission contributor is the most vulnerable continent from climate change. Africa is vulnerable to devastating impacts of climate change and the continent is expected to be aware the world the reality of Africa in the sector.
A document published at Institute for Security Studies (ISS) entitled “Africa’s positioning in global climate change negotiations” stated that the COP27 is pivotal for many reasons. The writers of the document believes that taking the outcomes of the Glasgow Conference, COP 26, into consideration, the COP27 will be looked to take the climate commitments forward significantly. For the authors, the past developments indicate that significant global convergence of commitments and actions will be looked at the COP 27 session to increase the responses and actions on climate change.
The COP 27 some experts also call it as “Africa Cop” is expected to become a significant conference with a broader presence of parties even with numbers closer to that of COP 21 of the Paris Conference and perhaps even more. Africa is becoming the peaceful hub of the world and countries across the world are unlikely to miss this opportunity of attending global agenda hosting by Africa. Africa should prepare to make this conference a historic one.
The authors of “Africa’s positioning in global climate change negotiations” recommend the development of a compendium of African best climate practice. For the writers, Africa is a global test bed for a global low-carbon economy which makes it an important idea for the continent. The current development status of the continent and low carbon emission of the ranking of the continent makes it the perfect continent to be first to net zero, for the writers. They recommend the African continent to present a compendium of Best Climate Practice of the continent during the COP 27 session.
Africa has its own climate change negotiation structures consisting three tiers with the highest political tier, the Conference of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC) established in 2009, with the primary objective of providing visible continent-wide political leadership in climate negotiations. The second tier is AMCEN, with the role of providing political guidance to the negotiations in preparation of the African common position, according to the article. The third tier, AGN, is the technical tier of the African negotiation team.
In addition to the continental structures to negotiate and decide in climate change and the continental effort to mobilize the continent, African countries are also at the front in combating climate change and voicing for action. Countries like Ethiopia, Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria and other countries are playing crucial role in giving due attention for climate change and becoming voicing for Africa. The countries implement strategies focusing on environmental diplomacy under their foreign policy and integrate climate issue in their domestic development strategies.
Ethiopia set the long-term goal of carbon neutrality in its first NDC. By fulfilling its responsibility at home, Ethiopia is also mobilizing and representing Africa and the developing world in climate change. Ethiopia is working to fulfill all possible works at home and calls developing countries to act what they can achieve with their capacities; parallel to that Ethiopia is working with the developed world to fulfill their responsibility as main contributor of carbon emission to help the developing world in combating climate change. “Ethiopia has engaged in diplomacy with its neighbors and the broader international community to effectively lobby for greater international ambition to tackle climate change and support for mitigating its impacts,” the authors’ mentioned above underlined.
“At the regional level, Ethiopia has rallied its neighboring countries of Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, South Sudan and Sudan on climate change planning under the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). Through IGAD, these nations have prepared a regional climate change strategy for the period 2016 to 2030 to harmonies national efforts towards low-carbon, climateresilient sustainable development. During COP 15, Ethiopia’s advocacy and leadership played a significant role in securing a pledge of US$100 billion per year in climate finance.”
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD TUESDAY 1 NOVEMBER 2022
