Experts drawn from various sectors are discussing on the implications of implementing Paris Climate Change Agreement at Africa’s premier annual climate change conference.
With the objective of understanding the implications, challenges and opportunities of implementing the Paris Agreement, the Sixth Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA–VI) kicked off here in Addis Ababa this week.
Speaking at the opening session through his representative, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Dr. Shiferaw Teklemariam said since Africa is vulnerable to climate change, the Paris Agreement is a very important milestone in addressing the issue.
The Paris Agreement, congruent with Africa’s long term vision, agenda 2063 and agenda 2030, is aimed at decreasing global average temperature to two degree Celsius above pre-industrial level.
“The Agreement may not be successful and we may not attain the results which we are looking for unless we implement it in synergy and harmony, mainstreaming it in other agendas,” remarked the Minister.
According to Dr. Shiferaw, Africa needs to pay serious attention to the implementation of the Agreement as the issue of climate change is of paramount importance for the continent.
Unless we deliver and put the right implementation plans in place including all the means of implementation, the financial, capacity building and all others, the agreement in itself may not give us the desired results, he cautioned.
“We Africans need to unite, speak in one voice and make the implementation of the Paris Agreement in such a way that would help us achieve our African Agenda,” he added.
Deputy Executive Secretary and Chief Economist at ECA Abdalla Hamdok said, of the 61 countries that have ratified the Paris Agreement, 14 are from Africa, accounting for only 1.06 percent of global emissions.
The significance of the Paris Agreement coming into force rests in the fact that the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) become legally binding.
“The operationalization of the agreement is significant for our continent in that it brings forward the need to mobilize adequate resources required to facilitate meaningful implementation,” the ECA official said.
The conference comes at a very opportune moment in the progress of the global response to climate change as it is designed to contribute to the development of the continent’s efforts towards the implementation of the Paris Agreement.
The basis of the Paris Agreement is the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) submitted by all parties in the lead up to COP22 as their national contributions to limiting global greenhouse gas emissions.
INDCs became Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) followed by COP21.
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