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.
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) - Africa should avoid the ‘Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) trap’ by perpetually pushing capacity building and miss out on serious climate funding opportunities, Dr Balgis Osman Elasha of the African Development Bank (AfDB) has said.
Dr Osman Elasha, who is the Principal Climate Change officer at the bank’s Quality Assurance and Results Department, says “Africa could not benefit from the CDM because it was caught up in the capacity building mode while others were taking action.”
CDM of the Kyoto Protocol provided for emissions reduction projects aimed at to assist parties not included in Annex I in achieving sustainable development and compliance with their quantified emission limitation and reduction commitments.
“For Africa to benefit from the Paris Agreement, we should, this time avoid the CDM trap”, Dr. Osman Elasha told delegates at an AfDB side event on day two of the UN Climate Change conference currently holding in Marrakech, Morocco.
Discussing ‘Access to means of Implementation-key concern for Africa post COP 21’, Dr. Osman Elasha said there is no room for Africa to waste on capacity building while the rest of the world would be taking action.
The panel discussion focused on the challenges that Africa faces and windows of opportunities that the continent could take advantage of, in the implementation of the Paris Agreement.
Seen as a historic Agreement and fastest international treaty to enter into force, the Paris Agreement which is anchored on the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), places obligations on all Parties to fulfil what is contained in their climate action plans.
However, for Africa, several gaps have emerged, one of which is the vagueness of most African countries’ NDCs, even before the bigger issue of means of implementation (finance and technology transfer) is brought into picture.
“The way forward is a major challenge for most developing countries—it’s not just about getting the money but also what to do with it to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement,” said Kurt Lonsway, Manager for the Climate and Environment portfolio at AfDB.
Lonsway, however, was quick to point out that the Bank stands by its commitment to support African states as they seek to rework their climate action plans to ensure that they benefit from available climate funding windows.
And in keeping up with the African challenge theme, Advisor of the African Group of Negotiators, Seth Osafo lamented the lack of in-country coordination among key climate players in most African countries.
“While it is collectively agreed that there is lack of capacity to develop bankable projects to access climate finance, another African tragedy is the lack of coordination within African countries,” said Osafo, adding that some country focal points end at representing their countries at negotiations without sharing key decisions with other key players in their respective countries.
Osafo, who is former legal advisor at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), observed the need to improve in-country linkages especially between the Ministries of Environment, which, in most African countries, carries the climate change portfolio, with Finance.
“For example, the ministries of finance are the key financial mobilisation units of most governments but their linkages with the environment is almost not existent on matters of climate change and resource mobilization and/or allocation,” he bemoaned.
The Paris Agreement on climate change entered into force on 4th November 2016. The landmark agreement, reached at COP 21 in Paris last year, aims to limit the increase in the global average temperature to ‘well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels’ and to pursue efforts to ‘limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels’ in this century.
However, while some African countries are among the Parties that have already ratified the Agreement, analysis by the African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) revealed that most African NDCs are vague in their adaptation and mitigation aspirations.
With the continent contributing approximately five percent to global GHG emissions and considered the most vulnerable to climate change vagaries, the overarching theme for Africa’s participation at COP 22 has been the way forward post COP 21, given the nuances surrounding the Agreement especially on means of implementation.
“There are contentious nuances of the agreement that must be unpacked in the context of Africa’s development priorities, particularly in regard to the means of implementation which were binding provisions of the Kyoto Protocol and currently only non-binding decisions in the Paris Agreement,” concludes James Murombedzi, Officer in Charge of the ACPC, highlighting the importance of focusing on what matters for Africa—climate finance.
En marge de la 22ème conférence des Nations les acteurs du secteur des énergies renouvelables se sont réunis le lundi 7 novembre 2016 au Pavillon Afrique de la COP22 et ont échangé sur les avancées en la matière
La conférence qui a eu lieu ce lundi 7 novembre 2016 dans le Pavillon Afrique en marge de la COP 22, a réuni plusieurs acteurs locaux et internationaux du secteur des énergies renouvelables afin d’échanger sur leur problématique commune. « Nous avons noté une avancée considérable ces dernières années dans le domaine, mais celles-ci sont disparates selon les régions. Aujourd’hui, 21 % de l’électricité sur le continent est produite par les énergies renouvelables et cela progresse », a lancé d’emblée Amine Homman Ludiye, directeur pour la région Afrique du Nord de l’entreprise Engie,
Pour étayer ses propos il a rajouté que le Maroc avait connu une croissance fulgurante ces dernières années, dû à une expertise accumulée. Et de rajouter que le pays avait débuté sa mutation énergétique depuis plusieurs années, lui conférant le statut de modèle en la matière. Un modèle à dupliquer pour partager son savoir faire aux autres pays africains.
Début octobre 2016, la Banque africaine de développement (BAD) recommandait au Maroc de mettre le cap sur les microcentrales, selon un communiqué de l’organisation panafricaine. « Au-delà des grands complexes industriels solaires, éoliens et hydrauliques destinés aux besoins en électricité du pays, la construction des microcentrales +constitue une option intéressante+, essentiellement pour l'approvisionnement des zones rurales éloignées », note la BAD dans un récent rapport dédié au secteur en Afrique du Nord, intitulé Le secteur des énergies renouvelables et l’emploi des jeunes au Maghreb.
Le Maroc produit environ 6135 MW d'énergie par an, une production qui se répartit comme suit : 4 166 MW par des centrales électriques classiques (68,4%) ; 1 748 MW d'énergie hydraulique (28 %) et 222 MW d'énergie éolienne (3,6 %).
Réponse : 68,4%
« Nous sommes sur le bon chemin. Il est important maintenant de réunir nos connaissances communes, et se concentrer davantage sur les petits projets et changer notre point de vue sur l’efficience de projets moindres mais qui nous permettre d’apprendre davantage sur des process à élargir pour les appliquer sur des projets plus importants », a constaté Andreas Gunst, spécialiste en Energie et projet d’électricité à DLA Piper Global Law Firm.
Mais tout le monde n’est pas toujours d’accord sur cette approche, puisque la volonté politique manque très souvent et que l’argent n’est pas toujours la solution à la résolution des problèmes climatiques que rencontre la planète.
« Nous savons que cela sera très difficile que tous les pays soient spontanément au même niveau de progression au niveau des énergies renouvelables et aujourd’hui au lieu de parler pourcentage, il faudrait parler des chantiers majeurs à traiter. L’énergie est fondamentale dans notre quotidien, et nous devons convaincre les politiciens d’obtenir les financements dont nous avons besoin », a suggéré Gareth Phillips, spécialiste en chef du changement climatique et de la croissance verte à la Banque africaine de développement (BAD).
« Tout n’est pas qu’une question d’argent. Il faut identifier les sources, les ressources, et l’environnement, s’il est stable ou changeant, a réagi Rachel Child, directrice pour la Qualification à Camco Clean Energy. Les moyens techniques sont immenses, les finances sont à trouver et il y a des moyens pour y accéder. Nous n’avons pas une ligne directrice et nous nous tournons vers les agences de développement. Or, la question fondamentale à se poser c’est : pour quel projet nous souhaitons investir et quelles sont les conséquences à court et moyen terme ? ».
