SUMMER 2009 Climate Alert
The Copenhagen Challenge: Prospects for Successful Climate Negotiations [ PDF ]
In this Newsletter:
Africa and AMCEN: A United Front
Effie George
The African continent presents a complex and multivariable conundrum: it is the continent with the fewest greenhouse gas emissions, yet it will inevitably suffer the most from the impacts of climate change environmentally, economically, and socially. As the Copenhagen Conference quickly approaches, the 53 nations of Africa, following the strong example set recently by South African leadership, have come together to develop a unified approach to climate change and international agreements through the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN). With this group, the African continent may have the leverage it needs to mobilize change at Copenhagen.
The magnitude of the stressors that currently impact Africa have the potential to converge with climate change in an unprecedented and, to a large extent, unpredictable way. Climate change will enhance the continent’s problems, including the spread of viruses, armed conflict, economic globalization and depletion of resources, making it financially impossible to do more than fund the immediate correction of crises, stymieing development. According to the United Nations Environmental Program, the current cost of managing the effects of climate change and its impact on preexisting crises on the African continent exceeds $1 billion per year [i].
One of the greatest threats that climate change poses unilaterally to the nations of Africa is its potentially detrimental effect on agriculture. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), agriculture represents 40% of the gross national product, and 55% of the total value of exports. 70% of African workers are employed in some form of agriculture; however, very few use any sort of irrigation, making them exceedingly reliant on rainfall for production [ii].
Climate change has the potential to increase water-related suffering in the 19 countries officially classified as water stressed (many of which are in Africa). The IPCC reports 75-250 million people will be exposed to water stress in the next decade, a result of a dramatic decrease in precipitation. It is predicted that as a result of this water stress, agricultural yields may drop by 50% around the continent by 2020, affecting livelihoods, increasing the inevitability of famine, and yielding unprecedented numbers of environmental refugees.
Rising sea levels threaten to submerge the low-lying coastal regions of west and central Africa. This change will also create environmental refugees from the rapidly growing coastal cities, who out of dire constraints and necessity will flee to better equipped nations.
In the face of these threats, environmental officials from the African nations have come together as AMCEN with the hope that as a united front, the international community will be forced to consider the burgeoning needs of the African continent when conducting global climate change negotiations.
AMCEN, established in 1985, now provides a permanent forum in which representatives from all 53 African nations can come together to discuss and advocate environmental policy, with a specific focus on sustainable development and agriculture. At the most recent scheduled conference session in June 2008, the African ministers formally recognized the need to establish and publicize a shared vision for future climate change agreements that incorporated both scientific evidence and sweeping political consensus. It was the May 2009 special session, however, that resulted in the Nairobi Declaration based on the 2008 agreements that offers the most insight into what Africa hopes to gain from the Copenhagen talks and demonstrates the African continent’s commitment to adapting to climate change.
The African ministers, in forming the Declaration, agreed that a future international climate change agreement must accommodate and finance African priorities of sustainable development, poverty reduction, capacity building and technological progress. These elements of Africa’s united climate change policy demonstrate a continental commitment to adaptation and mitigation, and suggest that Africa is eager to change and grow through sustainable means, with support from the international community [iii].
The Nairobi Declaration’s call for improvement of clean development mechanisms and its insistence on equal global distribution of sustainable development projects demonstrates the need to consider the link between climate change and economics, specifically in the context of the developing nations of the African continent. In a region highly dependent on climate for a thriving economy, there are strong links between development and climate change adaptation. The ministers have expressly stated that climate-proofing investments and an emphasis on renewable energy and energy efficient technologies to aid in sustainable development are absolutely necessary to equip Africa with the tools to survive potentially catastrophic climate change.
Yvo de Boer, Head of the UN Climate Change Secretariat, in a November 2008 address emphasized this connection between development and climate change adaptation by stating that, “Africa needs help to leapfrog the emissions-intensive stage of economic development, to ensure that the mistake of the West is not repeated” [vi].
Further, the Declaration discusses the notion of carbon credits as a means of positioning Africa as a competitor in the international low-carbon economy. The Declaration suggests that expanding the use eligibility for carbon credits to include sustainable land use, agriculture and forest management will allow Africa to gain an advantage in international economics while simultaneously boosting low-carbon development [vi].
The African ministers require of a future international agreement only that which will prove necessary for the continent’s continued development and eventual survival: aid with sustainable development, poverty reduction, technological advancements, capacity building and leadership from developed nations. Africa has the potential to continue to develop through carbon-sustainable means; however, it is only with the aid of developed nations and the international community that Africa will be able to thrive with the security of adaptation and mitigation measures.
The united African front developed through AMCEN and explicitly outlined in the Nairobi Declaration demonstrates the African continent’s dedication to protecting its citizens from the detrimental effects of climate change and a commitment to building a sustainable future.
Other Articles in this Newsletter:
Ecuador: A Sustainable Development Model
India: Poverty Eradication for Climate Adaptation
South Africa: A Leader on the Continent
Red Alert: The Impact of Climate Change on Northwest Coast Tribal Fisheries
Russia: Emissions Without Concessions