BONN, Germany (PAMACC News) - The Presidency of the 27th round of climate negotiations to be held in Egypt has promised to create enabling environment to facilitate as many African representatives as possible.
“We are really keen to support full participation of African nongovernmental organisations, Civil Society Organisations (CSO) and African communities at the forthcoming Conference of Parties on climate change (COP27),” said Amb Mohamed Ibrahim Nasr, of the COP Presidency, and the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Nasr said this during a brief meeting with members of the civil society under the umbrella of the Pan Africa Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) at the ongoing climate conference in Bonn, Germany.
“This is an implementation COP. We already have had enough rounds of planning, yet, as the developing countries in Africa; we are not getting our fair share. Whatever was promised by the developed countries is not being fulfilled, yet we are being asked to pay the price of adaptation and of loss and damage, do mitigation, and write off our natural resources,” said Nasr.
According to Robert Muthami, a climate policy analyst and a Programme Coordinator at the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Kenya Office, this will be a key moment for the recognition of the Africa Special Needs and Circumstances with clear provision for new, additional and predicatable support for enhancing climate action.
"Despite Africa being on the face of the climate crisis, efforts to have the Continents Special needs and circumstances have not been successful. It will be important for countries to stop shifting goal posts and agree on progressive decisions in fast tracking climate action," he said.
Nasr pointed out that there is need to bring out success stories that can be replicated and scaled up to showcase that communities and local governments are doing the best but are limited by financial resources – “These are the main messages,” he said.
“We are looking at PACJA as the main organisation to help in pushing of these ideas. We need to calibrate our message as the presidency. We need strong voices and messages coming from PACJA and communities. In that regard, we will do our best to ensure full participation of the civil society,” he told the PACJA delegation in Bonn.
He noted that since Africa is the hardest hit by climate change after the Mediterranean and the North Pole, the civil society constituency should be pushing, not just the same message, but the right message. “Each thematic day, there will be one session that is Africa specific.”
“As IPCC has put it, we, and the international community need to do more and we are lagging behind when it comes to adaptation. We have all the ingredients to put forth a strong case.”
He said that the civil society should try and bring out all the important messaging without provoking those opposed, who can block them. That they should build on the outcomes that are already available.
“We have a strategy, and we will be working with the AGN to ensure that Africa is back into focus,” said Nasr.
He urged the CSOs to leverage on the Africa Climate Week in Gabon and the Pre-COP in DRC and the AMCEN in October to give COP27 an African flavor.
“This is a global presidency, but we do not shy from being Africans. We want to see more Africans there because COPs come to Africa only once every five years,” he said noting that the country will make it easier for participants to get visas.
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