By Kofi Adu Domfeh
Dr. Fatima Denton |
VICTORIA FALLS, Zimbabwe (PAMACC News) –
Inadequate climate mitigation ambition will have untold consequences,
especially to Africa’s peoples, as the world heads to Paris in December for a
climate deal agreement.
According
to Dr. Fatima Denton, Special
Initiatives Division, UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), increasing global warming will raise the
costs of both adaptation and mitigation due to Africa’s constrained adaptive
capacity.
“Avoiding
dangerous atmospheric interference requires a temperature goal that is
commensurate with current levels of emissions; but it also means that we have
to go beyond business-as-usual emissions,” she said.
She
was speaking on “Africa, Climate Change and Sustainable Development: What Is At
Stake At Paris and Beyond?” as theme for the 5th Climate Change and
Development Conference in Africa (CCDA-V), holding in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe,
28-30 October, 2015.
The
objective is to support the African preparatory process towards global
negotiations of the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) of the United
Nations Convention Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The
immediate effects of climate change in Africa are being experienced primarily
in terms of human security as a result of threats to food and water supplies.
“Fighting
poverty and achieving sustainable development remains our chief thrust and
focus,” said Vice President of Zimbabwe, Emmerson
Mnangagwa.
He
says COP21 presents a unique chance for Africa to assert itself in the global
climate governance and influence the outcomes of Paris towards aligning with
the continent’s long term sustainable development agenda.
The
ultimate objective of the UNFCCC, according to Article 2, is the “stabilization
of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would
prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. Such a
level should be achieved within a time-frame sufficient to allow ecosystems to
adapt naturally to climate change, to ensure that food production is not
threatened and to enable economic development to proceed in a sustainable
manner.”
Dr.
Denton has therefore emphasized that it will not be in the interest of Africa
to relegate Article 2
to the background in the quest for food security and sustainable development.
“We
must take to Paris a new resolve of using our numbers, our collective voice,
our agency and our strength in demanding a fair, just and binding treaty
abetted by a means of implementation that will align our commitments to our
development priorities, including those Intended Nationally Determined
Contributions that will support our ambitions towards energy efficiency and
agricultural transformation and demand financial commitments,” she stated.
A
solutions stock taking has been initiated as part of the CCDA-V.
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