ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (PAMACC News) - Climate-induced migration has continued to swell in Africa in spite multiple efforts by different governments in the continent to find lasting solutions to the crisis. Development experts at a panel discussion in the CCDA-VI conference in Addis Ababa on October 19, 2016 pointed out that pledges made by different countries to tackle climate change challenges need to be accompanied by more concrete and collective measures.
According to the experts over 190 countries at the climate talks in Lima in 2014 and Paris in 2015 pledged to reach a more concrete agreement, with specific goals and responsibilities, aimed at mitigating the impact of climate change and adapting to its consequences. A number of countries also pledged that during the period between the two conferences they would examine the links between climate change and human migration and displacement and implement solution driven measures.
Looking at the linkages between climate change and migration, panelists noted that climate-induced migration is a global problem that is likely to worsen in the future if not tackled head-on. Global problems thus require global solutions, they said.
“Climate-induced migration is a problem too vast for any one country to handle on its own. It requires a global approach and collective action,” says Prof. Araya Asfaw of the Horn of Africa Regional Environment Center in Ethopia.
The different panelists urged development actors to avoid the blame game and come up with development projects especially in the areas of agriculture to curb growing migration.
According to experts, developing countries blame high-income nations for their migration problems. They argue that developed countries which have caused most of the emissions driving climate change, should compensate those countries that have not burned as much carbon and yet are victims of this global problem.
“These ecological justice issues will no doubt take time to sort through. But in the main time countries should accelerate and harness agriculture for food, health, employment to bring dramatic changes in the fight against poverty and climate change in many countries especially in Africa,” says Adama Ekberg Coulibaly of ECA Ethiopia.
The world needs to take collective action to mitigate and slow down climate change. But for this to happen there is need for a significant change in the way people and societies, in both industrialized and developing nations, lead their lives, the experts said.
In the context of migration, nations were urged to focus on the rights and lives of the migrants rather than on restricting movement as they implement actions to solve the problem.
“Migration will always occur whether it is legal or not. After all, people may very well have no other choice but to leave their homes. But projects that focuses on improving the rights and lives of the communities will bring significant change to the problems,” says Ibrahim Ceesay of the African Youth Initiative on Climate Change in The Gambia.
The CCDA-VI forum according to organizers, is geared at understand the implementation implications, nuances, challenges and opportunities of the Paris Agreement for Africa in the context of the continent’s development priorities.
The forum accordingly is tailored to facilitate science-policy dialogue and provide a marketplace for innovative solutions that integrates climate change into development processes.
“It is important to engage and embrace the Paris Climate Agreement within the framework of Africa’s development aspirations as underscored in Agenda 2063 that embodies the vision of the ‘Africa we want’ and Agenda 2030 on Sustainable Development that set global targets with a vision of ‘leaving no one behind,’ noted a 17 October 2016 press release from the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, UNECA.
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (PAMACC News) - Former Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), Prof Godwin Patrick OluObasi has been described as Africa’s gift to the world of climate science. This was made know by experts at the Inaugural Prof. Godwin Olu Patrick Obasi Memorial Lecture which held today on the side-lines of the sixth conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa holding in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
In a lead presentation on the life and times of the icon of meteorology, Prof. Laban Ogallo of the IGAD-UNDP Disaster Risk Reduction Project in Kenya recalled that Prof. Obasi was active in promoting global solutions to environmental issues, with special attention to the atmosphere, fresh water and the oceans.
“He was at the forefront in drawing the world’s attention to the issue of climate change, notably in convening the second World Climate Conference, held in Geneva in 1990,” Prof Ogallo said.
According to Prof Ogallo, Obasi played an important role in the negotiations leading to the establishment of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the World Climate Research Programme, the Global Climate Observing System and the Vienna Convention on the Protection of the Ozone Layer and its Montreal Protocol.
The panel of discussants at the memorial lecture which comprised Dr. Buruhani Nyenzi of the Southern Development Community-Climate Services Centre, South Africa, Dr. Ernest Afiesimama of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), Geneva, and Dr. Degefu Workneh of the Ethiopian Meteorological Society lauded Prof. Obasi’s outstanding contributions to the science of ozone depletion.
Dr. Nyenzi recalled that it was Prof Obasi, together with the then Executive Director of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Dr. Tolba, who initiated the negotiations on the Vienna Convention and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and also contributed to the establishment of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
“Prof. Obasi gave his strong support to the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), and exercised a key leadership role together with Dr. Tolba, in the establishment of the WMO/UNEP Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He took the lead role in the organization of the Second World Climate Conference and in the establishment of the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS),” Dr. Workneh added.
For those who had the privilege of working with Professor Obasi, Dr. Afiesimama averred that “the memories of this great man who dedicated his whole life to meteorological sciences will forever be cherished.”Afiesimama further added that Prof Obasi was “a man of honour who was afraid of nothing –– except God, as Prof.Obasi himself used to say.”
Professor Godwin Olu Patrick Obasi, a Nigerian citizen, was the Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) for five four-year terms (1984-2003). Within the WMO scope of competence, he has made major contributions to the implementation of the Vienna Convention and its Montreal Protocol.
Professor Obasi served the Nigerian Government in several capacities including that of an Adviser to the Federal Government of Nigeria in meteorological research and training. From 1967 to 1976, he was Professor of Meteorology, Chairman of the Department of Meteorology and Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Nairobi, Kenya. In 1978, he joined the WMO Secretariat as the Director of the Education and Training Department.
Before his death on the 3rd of March 2007 at age 74, Professor Obasi published over 150 scientific and technical papers and delivered hundreds of scientific and policy-related lectures to several high-level meetings, including at ministerial and Heads of State and Government levels.
PAMACC News Agency
Former Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), Prof Godwin Patrick OluObasi has been described as Africa’s gift to the world of climate science. This was made know by experts at the Inaugural Prof. Godwin Olu Patrick Obasi Memorial Lecture which held today on the side-lines of the sixth conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa holding in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
In a lead presentation on the life and times of the icon of meteorology, Prof. Laban Ogallo of the IGAD-UNDP Disaster Risk Reduction Project in Kenya recalled that Prof. Obasi was active in promoting global solutions to environmental issues, with special attention to the atmosphere, fresh water and the oceans.
“He was at the forefront in drawing the world’s attention to the issue of climate change, notably in convening the second World Climate Conference, held in Geneva in 1990,” Prof Ogallo said.
According to Prof Ogallo, Obasi played an important role in the negotiations leading to the establishment of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the World Climate Research Programme, the Global Climate Observing System and the Vienna Convention on the Protection of the Ozone Layer and its Montreal Protocol.
The panel of discussants at the memorial lecture which comprised Dr. Buruhani Nyenzi of the Southern Development Community-Climate Services Centre, South Africa, Dr. Ernest Afiesimama of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), Geneva, and Dr. Degefu Workneh of the Ethiopian Meteorological Society lauded Prof. Obasi’s outstanding contributions to the science of ozone depletion.
Dr. Nyenzi recalled that it was Prof Obasi, together with the then Executive Director of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Dr. Tolba, who initiated the negotiations on the Vienna Convention and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and also contributed to the establishment of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
“Prof. Obasi gave his strong support to the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), and exercised a key leadership role together with Dr. Tolba, in the establishment of the WMO/UNEP Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He took the lead role in the organization of the Second World Climate Conference and in the establishment of the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS),” Dr. Workneh added.
For those who had the privilege of working with Professor Obasi, Dr. Afiesimama averred that “the memories of this great man who dedicated his whole life to meteorological sciences will forever be cherished.”Afiesimama further added that Prof Obasi was “a man of honour who was afraid of nothing –– except God, as Prof.Obasi himself used to say.”
Professor Godwin Olu Patrick Obasi, a Nigerian citizen, was the Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) for five four-year terms (1984-2003). Within the WMO scope of competence, he has made major contributions to the implementation of the Vienna Convention and its Montreal Protocol.
Professor Obasi served the Nigerian Government in several capacities including that of an Adviser to the Federal Government of Nigeria in meteorological research and training. From 1967 to 1976, he was Professor of Meteorology, Chairman of the Department of Meteorology and Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Nairobi, Kenya. In 1978, he joined the WMO Secretariat as the Director of the Education and Training Department.
Before his death on the 3rd of March 2007 at age 74, Professor Obasi published over 150 scientific and technical papers and delivered hundreds of scientific and policy-related lectures to several high-level meetings, including at ministerial and Heads of State and Government levels.
PAMACC News Agency
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (PAMACC News) - “The Paris Agreement is somewhat weak in terms of how African countries will attract the required investments to deal with the challenges of climate change…,”says James Murombedzi, Officer in Charge of the Africa Climate Policy Centre of the United Nations economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).
While heralded as a landmark global deal on climate change, there remains a feeling of impotence from the Africa group on certain nuances of the Agreement and its implications to the continent’s development agenda.
However, signing and ratifying the Agreement is not optional for Parties as it was universally agreed by the then 196 members to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change—UNFCCC, in Paris last year.
This therefore implies that whatever issues Africa has with the Agreement and its implications, would have to be dealt with at the negotiating table, and this is the point at which the Young African Lawyers (YAL) Programme becomes crucial.
Established under the ClimDev-Africa Programme, YAL has the overarching goal of strengthening Africa’s negotiating position and ensuring Africa gets the best at the UNFCCC processes.
“Signing and ratifying the Agreement is not optional for us as Africa,” says Natasha Banda, a young Legal Practitioner from Zambia, one of the mentees under the programme.
Being part of the legal advisory team for the Zambian negotiators through the UNFCCC country Focal point person, Banda believes ratifying the Agreement is not negotiable and the starting point “because the nature of international Agreements is that you cannot have bargaining power from outside,” and is certain that Zambia, which is yet to ratify, would do so once all necessary processes are complete.
In recognition of the importance of addressing the impacts of climate change comprehensively, and the unique roles and responsibilities of lawyers in the process, the Young African Lawyers (YAL) programme brings together young and motivated African lawyers in integrating climate change responses into Africa’s development agenda.
According to Dr. Johnson Nkem, Senior Climate Adaptation Expert with the Africa Climate Policy Centre, and Coordinator of the programme, YAL is a crucial component for Africa’s climate governance framework, especially now that the world is moving towards a greener, cleaner future, as espoused in the Paris Agreement.
“While providing essential legal support to the AGN, the YAL programme is an important foundation for developing a cadre of African lawyers who are fully engaged in wider climate change issues. Legal advice on low-carbon trading transactions, for example, or integrating climate change into Environmental Impact Assessments are going to be increasingly important as the world heads towards a greener, cleaner future. As Africa anchors itself firmly in this global transition, the YAL programme aims to nurture the legal skills that will be integral to this process,” Nkem explains.
As well as the immediate benefits of providing legal support at the climate negotiations, YAL has the longer-term goal of building the expertise of young lawyers, to be applied in broader aspects of climate change policy and law.
And Rachael Rwomushana, a Ugandan Lawyer, testifies to the positive impact that the programme has had on her and on the country’s engagement in the UNFCCC processes.
Uganda is one of the African countries that has ratified the Paris Agreement, and Rwomushana believes she played a positive role as a young lawyer working in the office of the Attorney General.
“Being involved in the this programme has enabled me to better understand the process and the guidance that I can give to my country and the African Group of Negotiators in the process,” she says, stressing that African countries should not look back on the Paris Agreement but work to strengthen their climate governance so that they get the best out of it.
Under the guidance of two seasoned lawyers experienced in Multilateral Environmental Agreements such as Dr. Seth Osafo, former senior legal adviser of the UNFCCC Secretariat, and Matthew Stilwell, a climate change expert and legal adviser to the African Group of Negotiators, the YAL programme could be Africa’s hope for better climate governance engagement in the years to come.
With the availability of additional resources and support, the programme plans to expand to other interested participants and legal institutions across Africa in developing the knowledge-base of legal experts on climate change issues.
