By Kaah Aaron in Paris
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)
African civil
society groups under auspice of Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA)
have tasked all stakeholders as the conference enters into the final hours of
negotiation at the Paris climate conference to ensure that a comprehensive,
fair, ecologically just and legally binding agreement for a new treaty is
delivered by the end of this week as anything less will be unacceptable to the
long-suffering people of the continent of Africa. “The present reality at the
conference confirms that countries have spent the first week restating their
old positions leaving most of the key debates unresolved,” Sam Ogallah says.
Ogallah who is of the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) further
called on Ministers to urgently inject energy into the process this week so
that the agreement is fair enough reflecting the principle of CBDR and
addresses the issues of loss and damage, finance for adaptation and mitigation
and keeping the global warming well below 1.50C. Africa welcomes the current
pledges made to the GCF by Paris, Vietnam and Norway, but this is not enough --
particularly from the adaptation point of view. The total amount in the GCF so
is far is even too little for adaptation actions in Africa alone given the
latest estimates of the UNEP Adaptation Gap Report, which says that costs for
adaptation alone could rise to a level of 100 to 200 billion dollars per year
in 2050 even if the 2 degree limit is kept. According to Azeb Girma of LDC
Watch “there is serious need for financial support for adaptation in African
countries, therefore GCF pledges need to increase. For the 2020 goal of 100
billion dollars per year, Paris is yet to make any serious progress on
clarifying a pathway to achieve it.” Additionally, the question of how climate
finance can be scaled up predictably after 2020 remains unresolved with some
developed countries obstructing discussions of a post-2020 pathway,” Azeb,
added. “The time for posturing and sloganeering is over; it is time to make a
deal. Paris may be the last chance we have to break the standoff that has
prevented adequate climate action for decades. Negotiators can make history
this week, but it is up to them to lead and not to fail,’ Rebecca Muna of
ForumCC, Tanzania declared. “Among the burning issues at the core of the negotiations
are how the agreement will differentiate between countries to determine their
responsibility to act, how country’s initial commitments will be assessed for
their adequacy and fairness, how financial support for poor nations will be
included in the new agreement, and how developed countries will meet their
promise to mobilize $100 billion by 2020 in funding to support climate action
in poor countries,” Augustine Njamnshi from BCDP, Cameroon and
Technical/Political Affairs Chair of PACJA said. African groups at the
conference believes that countries must agree to phase out fossil-fuel
emissions to zero and lead the world to a renewable energy future if the Paris
treaty is to make a difference. Actions on adaptation and compensation for loss
and damage must be addressed with regard to their true scale and be at the core
of the Paris agreement. The businesses causing the problem must be held
accountable and victims of their dirty actions must be duly compensated.
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)
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