MARRAKECH, Morocco (PAMACC News) - Experts at the ongoing climate talks in Marrakech have advocated the development and adoption of a policy and strategic framework that support expansion and mainstreaming of sustainable tourism certification in Africa.Speaking at a side event in the Africa pavilion on the second day of the COP22 climate conference, water and tourism experts were unanimous in their view that African states should encourage and incentivise green certification of tourism, specifically in relation to monitoring and reducing water and waste.This, according to them, will set the stage for existing African and International certification programs to have adequate criteria, and established processes and systems for working with the hotel sector to assess and monitor their waste and water management systems. In addition to other environmental, social and socio-economic components of sustainable tourism, the framework will provide a mechanism to recognise that certification standards use a common and comprehensive approach to sustainability as well as summarise existing monitoring data being gathered by national tourism authorities and international/regional certification bodies specifically relating to the accommodation sector in Africa.According to Dr. Anna Spenceley, a consultant with the African Development Bank (AfDB), African states can integrate sustainability criteria into their hotel quality-rating programs as a way of supporting Sustainable Development Goal 12 which places emphasis on responsible consumption and production, and also contribute to the objectives of the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Tourism. Jean Michel Ossete, the Coordinator of the African Water Facility, jointly sponsored by the AfDB and the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) believes that the AfDB could support member states to raise awareness on the benefits of sustainable tourism certification in Africa particularly those with currently low levels of certification,improve linkages between established certification programs and member states, where there the program is aligned with the country’s objectives, and providing guidance on the design and implementation of incentives to promote improved waste and water management.Recognising that sustainable tourism certification provides an independent mechanism for evaluating and measuring water and waste management in African hotels, Oseloka Zikora of the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) advocated support for the development of national waste and water management capacity, to ensure that countries are able and willing to establish and enabling policy framework for good practices, and that hotels can implement them. “This should be done by providing technical advice and mentoring to governments on how they can promote better water and waste management and certification in the hotel sector through congruent policies, including through incentives, commissioning and sharing research findings on the financial and non-financial benefits of certification, and of good waste and water management practices, that provides clear quantification of the benefits that can be understood by decision makers,” Zikora added.He further recommended the adoption of a train-the-trainers approach to making the outreach cost effective and locally relevant, as well as establish an online resource library containing tools on waste and water management, training guides and case study examples. The experts also agreed on the need to…

Experts at the UNFCCC’s 22nd Conference of Parties which began yesterday in Marrakech have proposed innovative approaches to solving the African energy challenge. 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 $490bn 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 Philipps, 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,” Philipps 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, incentivize 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, address early-stage barriers to renewable energy project development, and focus 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.

MARRAKECH, Morocco (PAMACC News) - African Civil society at the ongoing climate change negotiation warned that if Parties did 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. “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,” said Mithika Mwenda, the Secretary General of the Civil Society Platform, Pan African Climate Justice Alliance . 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. “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 degreesi 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”, said John Bideri from Action for Environment and Sustainable Development, Rwanda and Co- Chair of PACJA’s Continental Executive Committee said. Now that the Paris Agreement has come into effect, stakes are certainly high on its implementation and Marrakech provides an incredible opportunity to clearly define the path towards achieving the 1.50C target, Bideri added during the Press Conference organized by the Alliance. “In Paris, we demanded equity, fair deal and legally binding agreement. And here In Marrakech, developed country Parties must be 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, said. “The role of capacity building and technology in the realization of the global target through mitigation and adaptation actions can never be over-emphasized. 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, added.

Près d’une année près la signature, à Paris, d’un accord historique visant à limiter le réchauffement climatique, les 196 États acteurs des négociations sont réunis depuis lundi 7 novembre, à Marrakech (Maroc), pour la 22e conférence des Nations unies sur le climat (COP22). Objectif de cette COP22 : concrétiser les engagements pris l’an passé, à l’issue de la COP21. Ce lundi 7 novembre 2016, la grande salle plénière des Nations unies a fait le plein. Ségolène Royal, ministre française de l’Environnement, de l’Energie et de la Mer, chargée des Relations internationales sur le climat, a eu l’honneur de déclarer l’ouverture officielle de la Conférence. En sa qualité de présidente de la COP21, elle s’est réjouie du succès de l’édition précédente, saluant au passage la ratification de l’Accord de Paris par 100 pays à la date du 6 novembre 2016. « Nous avons rendu possible ce qui était dit impossible, avec obstination, sans jamais relâcher l’effort. C’est un moment historique dans l’humanité. Nous pouvons être fiers de notre travail », a indiqué Ségolène Royal. Reste que de nombreux pays hésitent encore à signer le document. « Je lance un appel aux 96 pays qui n’ont pas encore ratifié l’Accord de Paris de le faire avant la fin de l’année 2016 », a plaidé la ministre française. Au passage, elle a exprimé un satisfecit pour l’engagement des pays africains : « dans ce combat contre le réchauffement climatique, les pays africains sont les plus mobilisés, créatifs et engagés. Ils inventent le monde de demain avec le plan de l’Union africaine de produire de 50% des énergies renouvelables à l’horizon 2030. » Et Ségolène Royal d’ajouter : « J’en profite donc pour demander la justice climatique pour l’Afrique. C’est là que se trouve la priorité et l’espérance ». Pour Salaheddine Mezouar, ministre des Affaires étrangères du Maroc, à qui revient de porter le flambeau de la COP22, il existe désormais un « contexte porteur d’espoir et d’attente pour l’ensemble de l’humanité, dont des pans entier souffrent au quotidien ». La prise de conscience est collective : il faut apporter des réponses tangibles au plan climatique. « Il nous appartient d’être à la hauteur de ce défi planétaire. +Le soleil n’ignore pas un village parce qu’il est petit+ », a poursuivi le ministre en citant un proverbe africain. « La mobilisation inédite et la volonté politique exprimée au plus haut niveau ont été couronnées par l’entrée en vigueur de l’Accord de Paris. C’est une avancée inédite, accomplie. Il nous faut capitaliser sur ce dynamise par le biais de décisions orientées vers la mise en œuvre », a soutenu Salaheddine Mezouar. Si la COP21 de Paris a débouché sur un accord qui engage les pays, la COP22 à Marrakech doit faire place à l’action, aux dires du chef de la diplomatie marocaine. Pour ce faire, son pays propose la création d’une plate-forme de plusieurs pays afin d’accompagner la mise en forme des engagements pris, il y a un an. Pour parvenir à cet objectif, le…