Transcript Technical Session of AMCEN Pre-COP 15 Meeting

Technical Session of AMCEN
pre-COP 15 Meeting
Peter Acquah (PhD)
AMCEN Secretary
Regional Office for Africa
UNEP
Technical Session of AMCEN pre-COP15
 The technical session of AMCEN PreCOP15 is serving as the second meeting
of the African high-level expert panel on
climate change.
 This meeting is also serving partially as a
preparatory meeting for the second
extraordinary meeting of AMCEN on
climate change ----Copenhagen, 15 Dec.
Sponsors of Technical Session of
AMCEN pre-COP 15
AMCEN GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGES
FINANCIAL SUPPORT FROM
 Denmark through UNEP
 DfiD through UNECA (ACPC)
UNEP and UNECA
COMMON NEGOTIATING
POSITION
AFRICA HAS A DOCUMENTED
COMMON NEGOTIATING POSITION
Objectives of Technical Session of
AMCEN pre-COP15
To update the African common negotiating
position;
To deliberate on the framework of African
climate change programmes and its associated
frameworks of subregional climate change
programmes; and
To deepen the understanding of African
experts on the issues being negotiated in
connection with the international climate
change regime beyond 2012
Expected Products

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Updated African Common Negotiating Position.
Key Messages
Draft Comprehensive framework of African
Climate Change Programmes.
Draft framework of subregional climate change
programmes (Eastern and Central Africa)
African High Level Expert Panel on Climate Change
Statement on combating the adverse effects of
climate change in Africa.
Report of the second meeting of the African High
Level Expert Panel on Climate Change
BREAK-OUT SESSIONS
 AFRICAN NEGOTIATORS GROUP (Gp. 1) – Closed Session
 Updated African Common Negotiating Position.
 Key Messages
 FRAMEWORK ROGRAMMES GROUP (Gp.2) –Open Session
 Draft comprehensive framework of African climate change
programmes
 Draft framework of subregional climate change programmes
 Recommendations on implementation of cc programmes
 POLICY RELATED GROUP (Gp. 3) – Open Session
 Draft Experts Statement on combating the adverse effects of
climate change in Africa
 Political Messages
 Post Copenhagen 2009 related recommendations
 Participants to indicate group (1 or 2) of preference.
Historical Setting (Aspects)
Pre-Bali
AMCEN’s work in the Multilateral
Environmental Agreements (MEAs) since its
inception in 1985.
AMCEN and UNEP organized meeting for
African Group of Negotiators in Naivasha,
Kenya, 2006 – First well documented Africa’s
common negotiating position.
Naivasha to Abuja (2007) to Algeria (2008) to
Nairobi (2009) to Addis Ababa in October 2009
for the pre-COP15.
Twelfth Session of AMCEN
Decision 2 on climate change
Ministerial Policy Dialogue – President of
AMCEN Summary included specific
suggestions on elements for the process of
developing a common position.
Decision 2 on climate change:
 Africa’s preparations for developing a common
negotiating position on a comprehensive
international climate change regime beyond 2012;
 Comprehensive framework of African climate
change programmes.
12th Session Ministerial Policy Dialogue
(Some specific suggestions made)
 Shared vision key elements – sustainable development; poverty
reduction; MDGs attainment; increased support for capacity
building, financing and technology development and transfer for
adaptation and mitigation in Africa;
 Emission targets for developed countries(2020) – 25 to 40 %
reductions below 1990 levels and by 2050 by between 80 and 95
% below those levels (achieving 450 ppm of carbon dioxide
equivalent in the atmosphere).
 Developing countries will respond by deviating from “businessas-usual” baseline emissions enabled and supported by finance,
technology and capacity –building from developed countries, in a
measurable, reportable and verifiable manner;
Ministerial Policy Dialogue
(Some specific suggestions made)
 Adaptation in Africa must be given higher priority in
order to balance it with mitigation on the international
agenda;
 Adaptation financing should be significant, new and
additional;
 Carbon markets, and the CDM in particular, are key
and should be supplemented by financial flows from
private and public sectors;
 Skewed distribution of CDM projects at the
international level should be rectified urgently;
 All stakeholders should be involved in climate
strategies at all levels.
Post Special Session of AMCEN on
Climate Change
 Nairobi Declaration on the African Process for
Combating Climate Change.
 Update of the African Common Position (African
Climate Platform to Copenhagen).
 Decision on the African Process for combating climate
change.
 Conceptual framework for African climate change
programmes.
 AU Summit in Sirte, Libya’s endorsement
 Subregional Consultative meetings
 Legal and Gender networks for the African
Negotiators
 AMCEN pre-COP15 in Addis
The Road to Copenhagen-Unity of
Purpose for Africa
Three levels of engagement characterized
by sense of togetherness – Unity of
purpose.
Conference of African Heads of State
on Climate Change - Ethiopia
 African Ministerial Conference on the
Environment – South Africa
 African Group of Negotiators - Algeria
Ongoing Negotiations
 “Tone has become adversarial”
 “ A maze of positions’.
 The disclosure by the EU that it had decided
over a year ago to replace the Kyoto Protocol
with a new Agreement has created major
consternation among G77 and China.
 Urgent steps required to restore trust in
Barcelona.
 “ A successful outcome from Copenhagen will
largely hinge on the world’s political leaders”
Ongoing Negotiations
 It is the collective responsibility of African
negotiators and indeed all African experts, civil
society organizations, etc. to lobby and also
help keep the continent’s political leaders well
informed to enable them engage more
effectively in Copenhagen in December 2009.
 African experts strongly recommended in
August 2009 that the Conference of the African
Heads of State and Governments on Climate Change
ought to be expanded to include all African
countries.
Conclusions
 Africa is under very huge threat from climate
change and yet it is unclear where the current
negotiations are leading to even at this stage.
 “Africa’s common voice should be much
stronger and should go far beyond the claim
for compensation for the region since it is the
very survival of the people of this continent
which is at stake”.
Thank you for your attention