BONN, Germany (PAMACC News) - The African Group of Negotiators has expressed concern at the waning commitment in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process by Developed countries.

Briefing African Civil society delegates at the on-going Mid-Year session climate talks in Bonn, AGN Chair Mohamed Nasr said little progress has been made this far.
After some key issues such as loss and damage and adaptation were deferred from COP 24 in Katowice, and agreed to be dealt with by constituted bodies at the SB50, Nasr said, the expectation was that much progress would have been made by now.

“What happened in Katowice was that some elements like article eight on loss and damage, and adaptation and resilience, were pushed forward to the constituted bodies while the elements that relate to transparency, there was nothing constituted. We are fine with that, but what happened in the constituted bodies was really troubling because on loss and damage for example, there are struggling, some partners are renegotiating what we had already agreed; the same is happening with finance, adaptation…so we are concerned thatthis delicate balance that we have isbeing challenged due to changes in the geopolitical dimensions,” said Nasr.

He disclosed that the stance on climate finance especially on the replenishment of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) by some countries from the global north such as Australia, is not particularly encouraging.

“Australia is saying they are not going to put in money because they are already doing a lot of activities on their own while the US are playing the game of in and out,” said the AGN Chair.
And it seems, according to Nasr, there is an emerging dilemma from Africa as well—the discovery of oil and gas.

This, Nasr said, has created a complication for the countries that have discovered oil and gas whether to proceed and explore to lift their people out of poverty or forget it for the sake of keeping the world safer.

“Coming back to our continent, a lot of countries are discovering oil and gas reserves, for example in East Africa, from Somalia all the way down, countries have discovered huge reserves of oil and gas. In terms of environmental protection, this is very polluting, so the question is what are you going to do with this discovery? So, when we deal with the issue of response measures, this is a challenge we are facing,” explained Nasr.

The AGN Chair was however quick to state that there is a lot of commitment from African countries on moving their economies to low carbon pathways but for funding, and recurring climate crises such as the cyclone that hit Southern Africa earlier in the year and the worst drought experienced in East Africa among many others that force them to divert resources meant for development to cope with disasters.

It is for this reason that the AGN has consistently been pushing for the adaptation narrative at the climate talks.

“We are in this process for two reasons, and this is very clear from our side as AGN. First is to enhance global ambition to tackling climate action, but also to secure the adaptation dimension which is by the way, different from resilience as our partners are trying to portray in the talks. And the GCF is the financial package…but from our partners, the developed countries, the big picture is notwhat we expected, it seems the appetite, the commitment in the UNFCCC process needs to be revitalised, and we need a strong voice from CSOs; need to be very strong on what they are saying, in understanding the package that we agreed to,” he emphasised.

The African Group of Negotiators (AGN) was established at COP1 in Berlin, Germany in 1995 as an alliance of African member states that represents the interests of the region in the international climate change negotiations, with a common and unified voice.
It is the technical body of the three-tier African negotiating structure that engages in the technical negotiations during the Conferences of the Parties and the intercessional negotiations. The AGN prepares and drafts text and common positions, guided by decisions and key messages from Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC), and the African Ministerial Conference on Environment and Natural Resources (AMCEN), and prepares text for adoption by Ministers during the COPs.