Addis Ababa/Nairobi,
26 October 2009 - Africa will neither accept
replacement of the Kyoto Protocol, nor its
merger with any new agreement,
say African climate change negotiators meeting
in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at the last African
major preparatory gathering, before the
UN Climate Change negotiations in Copenhagen
in December.
Negotiators say actions
for Africa should be voluntary and nationally
appropriate, and must be fully supported
and enabled by technology transfer, finance
and capacity building from developed countries.
Added to this, any new climate deal must
include provision for Africa to be compensated
for climate related social and economic
losses.
Negotiators also made
a strong bid for new, sustained and scaled-up
finance to provide technology and capacity
to assist with adaptation and risk management
related to a changing climate. A key point
from the meeting said the provision of financial,
technological and capacity building by developed
countries for adaptation in developing countries
is a commitment under the Convention that
must be urgently fulfilled.
It recognises that climate
change is an additional burden to sustainable
development, and a threat to achieving the
Millennium Development Goals. Climate change
threatens some 20-30 percent of species
in Africa with extinction if trends continue.
According to a detailed study by Mozambique's
national Disaster Management Institute,
Mozambique will be overwhelmed by more natural
disasters like cyclones, floods, droughts
and disease outbreak as a result of climate
change in the next twenty years and beyond.
 |
Negotiators said that
Africa, as the most vulnerable continent,
which has contributed the least to the global
greenhouse gas emissions, deserves full
support to adapt to climate change. In addition,
negotiators stated that for Africa, successful
negotiations at the UN Climate Meeting in
December in Copenhagen must produce a 2-track
outcome. This translates as amendment of
Annex B, which includes all developed countries
of the Kyoto Protocol for further commitments
for the second and subsequent commitment
periods of the Protocol.
They are also requesting
a separate legal instrument for the outcome
of the negotiations of the Bali Action Plan,
which include long term goals for emission
reductions, enhanced action on mitigation
of climate change, enhanced action on adaption,
technology development and provision of
financial resources.
Developed countries
must reduce their greenhouse gas emissions
by at least 40% below 11000 levels by 2020
and at least 80% to 95% below 11000 levels
by 2050, in order to achieve the lowest
level of stabilisation assessed by the IPCC's
Fourth Assessment Report. Negotiators concluded
by saying that any Copenhagen outcome must
provide new, additional, sustainable, accessible
and predictable finance to support a comprehensive
international programme on adaptation that
reduces vulnerability and increases resilience
to current impacts and changes that are
likely to occur in the future.
Africa reaffirms the
UNFCCC principle of common, but differentiated
responsibilities and respective capabilities
and that these should form the basis for
the post-2012 regime. The updated and consolidated
African Common Position will be submitted
to African Ministers and Heads of State
on the eve of the COP- 15 in Copenhagen.
The meeting was the
initiative of AMCEN and the African Union,
(AU), in collaboration with the United Nations
Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and
the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP).
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Ban lays out criteria
for successful Copenhagen gathering on climate
change
New York, 26 October
2009 - As just over one month remains before
nations converge in Copenhagen to 'seal
the deal' on a new climate change agreement,
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has laid out
his four benchmarks for success at the negotiations
in the Danish capital.
Firstly, he wrote in
an opinion piece in the New York Times published
yesterday, every country - developed and
developing - must do all it can to slash
emissions from all sources, including deforestation
and shipping.
"A successful deal
must strengthen the world's ability to cope
with an already changing climate,"
Mr. Ban added, stressing that "support
for adaptation is not only an ethical imperative;
it is a smart investment in a more stable,
secure world."
Thirdly, any deal must
be backed by funding to allow poorer countries
to transition to a low-carbon economy.
Lastly, the Secretary-General
wrote, nations must agree on an equitable
global governance structure. "All countries
must have a voice in how resources are deployed
and managed. That is how trust will be built."
Despite the gridlock
at the last round of climate change negotiations
held in Bangkok, Thailand, earlier this
month, "the elements of a deal are
on the table," he underscored.
All that is needed to
put them in place is political will, Mr.
Ban said. "We need to step back from
narrow national interest and engage in frank
and constructive discussion in a spirit
of global common cause."
The leadership of the
United States in this endeavour, he said,
is vital, noting that he is encouraged by
last week's bipartisan initiative in the
US Senate.
"We cannot afford
another period where the United States stands
on the sidelines," Mr. Ban emphasized,
adding that an "indecisive or insufficiently
engaged" US will result in unnecessary
and unaffordable delays in tackling global
warming.
With the last round
of negotiations before the start of the
Copenhagen conference kicking off next week
in Barcelona, Spain, "we are now at
a rather critical juncture," Janos
Pasztor, Director of the Secretary-General's
Climate Change Support Team, told reporters
today in New York.
There is a flurry of
activity in the world's capitals, with this
uptick in activity expected to continue
during the final stretch before the December
summit, he said. "This is a good development
as it is only governments who can make the
deal and bring us success in Copenhagen."
When leaders assemble
in Denmark, they have the ability to "deliver
an agreement on a range of fast-track implementation
measures for which credible resources are
needed and which governments need to make
available," Mr. Pasztor stated.
The Secretary-General,
he said, is serving as a "neutral broker"
among all 192 UN Member States, pressing
for an ambitious multilateral deal to ensure
that global temperature increases remain
within safe levels.
