BONN, Germany (PAMACC News) - African and Small Island Developing countries made their presence readily felt at the ongoing climate talks in Bonn-Germany. Observers, civil society actors, researchers and negotiators from these countries all at different instances underlined the need for the 10-day international conference to advance substantive progress on the rules and processes that will fully drive operational the Paris Agreement. According to experts, the sessions mark the half-way point to the finalization of the Paris Agreement that will be decided at COP 23 in Bonn. “This climate session is very important for Africa and Small Island developing countries, reason why they are taking active part in setting the rules,” says Augustine Njamnshi of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance, PACJA. They have also been taking active part in the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) and the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Paris Agreement (APA) different sessions in Bonn on the “Rule Book”. According to these experts the focus of the Bonn Climate Change Talks is to further the implementation of the Paris Agreement by drafting the so-called “rulebook” to guide its implementation. Application of the ‘rulebook’ will require decisions on the transparency reporting guidelines, accounting, cooperative approaches of both market and non-market natures, nationally determined contributions (NDCs), and their means of implementation which include the provision and reporting of finance provided and received, technology development and transfer and capacity building. The standing issues on the SBSTA and SBI agendas are also being considered which include issues related to adaptation, mitigation, agriculture, land use change and forestry and response measures. Multiple side events were also organized by different organizations to showcase collaboration as part of a consortium to provide advice on the development of the transparency framework under the Paris Agreement. The Bonn Climate Change Talks which commenced on Monday 8 May and will conclude on Thursday 18 May. The talks are expected to set the stage for the 23rd Conference of the Parties (COP 23) which will be convened in Bonn in November. COP 23 will be held under the Presidency of Fiji and will mark the first occasion in which a Small Island Developing State (SIDS) holds the Presidency of the COP.

BONN, Germany (PAMACC News) - Multilateral Development Banks and other financing institution have been urged to boost climate finance in support of new international agreement and sustainable development pathways especially in Africa in line with the COP 21 Paris Agreement; The call was made at climate discussions in Bonn May 13, 2017, on how Multilateral Development Banks can mobilize and deploy climate finance in developing countries to permit them carryout the different projects outlined in their NDCs. According to Dr Stephen Singer, CAN International, multilateral banks have crucial parts to play in achieving the goals set out in the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals. “Delivering on the Paris Agreement is all about radical economic transformation and fostering sustainable, low-carbon and strong growth. Economic policy and finance, and this multilateral banks and finance ministries, will be at the core,” he said. Experts called for a strong partnership between multilateral banks and the provide sector to be able to stand the challenges of growing urbanization and emerging markets. “What these financial institutions do over the next two decades will determine whether we succeed or fail to deliver this global agenda. During that time, the size of the world’s economy is likely to double, and the amount of infrastructure will probably increase by a still larger factor, with strong urbanization and growth in developing and emerging market countries,” noted Peter Bett of the Department of Business, Energy and industrial Strategy, Robert Moore UK. According to conference participants,investments in sustainable infrastructure will not only help us to realize the goals of the Paris Agreement but will also allow the different countries meet up with the challenges to reach the Sustainable Development Goals. Gareth Philips, of the African Development Bank Group pointed out that the world is set to invest aboutUS$90 trillion in infrastructure over the next 15 years. That means spending will increase from about US$3.4 trillion per year to about US$6 trillion with most of this investment located in developing and emerging market countries. “If this infrastructure is not sustainable, and instead locks in high-carbon activities, the world will lose its chance of meeting the Paris Agreement goal of holding the rise in global mean surface temperature to well below 2 Celsius degrees above its level in the middle of the 19th century,” he said. Sustainable infrastructure is not only low-carbon but it is also climate-resilient. It must be able to cope with the current climate and with those impacts of climate change that we cannot now avoid. And it is clean, efficient and smart. All new infrastructure, including for energy, transport, water and communications, must be sustainable, as was emphasised by the report on ‘The Sustainable Infrastructure Imperative’ by the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate in October. This is particularly true for cities and towns, which already host the majority of the world’s population. Urbanisation is taking place at a remarkable speed. Only sustainable infrastructure can help to reduce pollution, waste and congestion, and ensure that we can…

BONN, Germany (PAMACC News) - Civil society organisations at the ongoing Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) conference in Bonn have called on the UNFCCC to kick out representatives of big oil, gas and coal corporate organisations from the climate negotiation room, citing conflict of interest.Article 12 of the Paris Agreement explicitly allows public participation in the climate policy making process, thus inviting everybody on board, including representatives of major fossil fuel corporations.But now, civil society groups say that this is likely going to derail the entire process. “There will be no progress with involvement of the industry, because such players are profit oriented,” said Jesse Bragg, the spokesperson of the Corporate Accountability International.On 12th May 2007, the UNFCCC released a report based on one of the sessions during the conference, where participants had expressed concerns about involvement of such multibillion dollar corporate groups, arguing that they were likely going to use their financial capabilities to influence global policies on climate change.According to the report published on the UNFCCC website, some participants stressed that enhancing the engagement of non-Party stakeholders must not undermine the legitimacy and integrity of the UNFCCC process.To that end, one group proposed that the UNFCCC process should adopt a definition of conflict of interest in the same manner it was adopted by the World Health Organization (WHO) in to safeguard public health policy formulation especially when it involves issues to do with tobacco.According to Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, such actors with conflicts of interest have been locked out completely due to similar reasons cited by climate lobby groups. The WHO Article states; “In setting and implementing their public health policies with respect to tobacco control, Parties shall act to protect these policies from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry in accordance with national law. “This is the kind of protection we are looking for, when we are talking about climate change,” said Kathleen Roof also of Corporate Accountability International, noting that some of the biggest fossil fuel corporations knew more than 20 years ago that social and environmental devastation would follow in their footsteps, but they sought to deepen their pockets at any and every cost.The same view is held by the umbrella of African civil society organisations on climate change, otherwise known as the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA).“By all means, we must have all fossil fuel corporate organisations off the climate negotiation table because they have always been an impediment to the process,” said Mithika Mwenda, PACJA Secretary General. “We have seen them influence the Presidency of the United States of America, and given their money power, they will definitely bribe their way to ensure that their interests are taken good care of, despite the impact such decisions may cause to the environment,” said Mithika.According to Corporate Accountability International, such business organisations are already represented at the UNFCCC through different accredited groups.However, according to Sam Ogallah, also of PACJA, these groups are…

ABIDJAN, Côte d'Ivoire (PAMACC News) - No region of the world has ever moved to industrialised economy status without a transformation of the agricultural sector. Agriculture, which contributes 16.2% of the GDP of Africa, and gives some form of employment to over 60% of the population, holds the key to accelerated growth, diversification and job creation for African economies.But the performance of the sector has historically been low. Cereal yields are significantly below the global average. Modern farm inputs, including improved seeds, mechanisation and irrigation, are severely limited.In the past, agriculture was seen as the domain of the humanitarian development sector, as a way to manage poverty. It was not seen as a business sector for wealth creation. Yet Africa has huge potential in agriculture – and with it huge investment potential. Some 65% of all the uncultivated arable land left in the world lies in Africa. When Africa manages to feed itself, as – within a generation – it will, it will also be able to to feed the 9 billion people who will inhabit the planet in 2050.However, Africa is wasting vast amounts of money and resources by underrating its agriculture sector. For example, it spends $35 billion in foreign currency annually importing food, a figure that is set to rise to over $100 billion per year by 2030.In so doing, Africa is choking its own economic future. It is importing the food that it should be growing itself. It is exporting, often to developed countries, the jobs it needs to keep and nurture. It also has to pay inflated prices resulting from global commodity supply fluctuations.The food and agribusiness sector is projected to grow from $330 billion today to $1 trillion by 2030, and remember that there will also be 2 billion people looking for food and clothing. African enterprises and investors need to convert this opportunity and unlock this potential for Africa and Africans.Africa must start by treating agriculture as a business. It must learn fast from experiences elsewhere, for example in south east Asia, where agriculture has been the foundation for fast-paced economic growth, built on a strong food processing and agro-industrial manufacturing base.This is the transformation formula: agriculture allied with industry, manufacturing and processing capability equals strong and sustainable economic development, which creates wealth throughout the economy.Africa must not miss opportunities for such linkages whenever and wherever they occur. We must reduce food system losses all along the food chain, from the farm, storage, transport, processing and retail marketing.To drive agro-industrialisation, we must be able to finance the sector. Doing so will help unlock the potential of agriculture as a business on the continent. Under its Feed Africa strategy, the African Development Bank will invest $24 billion in agriculture and agribusiness over the next ten years. This is a 400% increase in financing, from the current levels of $600 million per year.A key component will be providing $700 million to a flagship program known as “Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation” for the scaling up…