Toute l'actu sur la protection de l'environnement

Tag: climate change in africa

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A common vision of sustainable finance is being developed in Central Africa. The project is at the heart of an international forum scheduled for 8 and 9 May 2023 in Douala, Cameroon, under the theme « Trajectories towards sustainable finance ». An initiative of the Bank of Central African States (BEAC), in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Sustainable Banking and Finance Network (SBFN).

Green or sustainable finance aims to promote the real economy and long-term projects. This type of financing favours financial operations that take into account extra-financial criteria, commonly known as environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria. These criteria include carbon emissions, biodiversity protection, waste management and societal impacts.

It is towards this ecological model of finance that the member countries of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) are oriented, through an international forum on the theme « Trajectories towards sustainable finance ». Scheduled for 8 and 9 May 2023 in Douala, Cameroon, this initiative of the Bank of Central African States (BEAC) is organised in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group and the Sustainable Banking and Finance Network (SBFN). The objective of this meeting is to develop a common vision of sustainable finance for the countries of the Cemac zone (Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Chad, CAR, Equatorial Guinea), says the BEAC.

« This forum will allow to create a firm commitment of stakeholders operating in member countries, but also to establish a solid connection between the Cemac and international partners for the emergence of sustainable finance in the area, » said the BEAC in its statement.

The central bank announced that participants will include officials from the CEMAC Commission, the sub-regional stock exchange (BVMAC) and the financial market regulator (Cosumaf), the Development Bank of Central African States (BDEAC), professionals from the financial sector and CEMAC ministers in charge of the economy and finance. Officials from the West African Economic Monetary Union (WAEMU), the World Bank and the Sustainable Banking and Finance Network are also expected to attend.

Fanta Mabo

CENTRAL AFRICA: BEAC guides its member states towards sustainable finance

A common vision of sustainable finance is being developed in Central Africa. The project is at the heart of an international forum scheduled for 8 and 9 May 2023 in Douala, Cameroon, under the theme « Trajectories towards sustainable finance ». An initiative of the Bank of Central African States (BEAC), in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Sustainable Banking and Finance Network (SBFN).

Oyéoussi Charles Balogoun is the Africa Representative of the NGO Panel under the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). The Civil Society Panel (CSO Panel) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) represents nearly 500 organisations accredited to the Convention. Charles Balogoun is also the Global President and Chairman of the Board of the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Afrique Espérance. He answers ENVIRONNEMENTALES’s questions on the state of desertification in Africa. 

What is your panel’s assessment of the advancing desert in Africa?

First of all, I would like to say a big thank you to your media organisation, which makes enormous efforts to support endogenous initiatives to combat the effects of climate change. You were with us from the start in 2020 after the Institut de la Francophonie pour le développement durable (IFDD), a subsidiary body of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), awarded us a grant for the implementation of the project « organic waste recovery to increase the income of women’s groups in the council of Zè in southern Benin ». And so to answer your question, before the COP15 UNCCD held from 9 to 20 May 2022 in Abidjan in Ivory Coast, the 2nd Review of the Global Land Outlook, Second Edition was launched. The conclusions of this report are alarming and worrying for our survival on earth. According to the experts involved in this scientific and research activity, more than 70% of the arable land is already degraded and therefore unusable and infertile; only 30% is left to feed more than 7 billion people on the globe. This state of affairs also affects the ability of our environment to absorb the influence of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, causing damage to the ozone layer and in turn reflecting the high level of global warming. Urgent and appropriate measures are therefore needed to address this. Hence the interest of the strong resolutions and recommendations of the « Abidjan Declaration ».

At the COP15 on desertification from 9 to 20 May 2022 in Ivory Coast, many delegates from the African continent wanted to see the adoption of an additional protocol on drought, inspired by the Kyoto Protocol on climate. What is your panel doing to support the adoption of such a protocol at COP16, which will take place in 2024 in Saudi Arabia?

The highlights of the UNCCD COP15 in Abidjan include planting one billion trees by 2030, restoring more than 30% of degraded land by 2030, building resilience to drought by identifying the expansion of drylands, creating an Intergovernmental Working Group on Drought for 2022-2024, improving women’s involvement in land management as stakeholders, combating sand and dust storms, and other increasing disaster risks, as well as promoting decent land-related jobs for youth and youth entrepreneurship, but also supporting their participation in the Convention process. To these various strong resolutions, the CSO Panel Africa branch in good understanding with the UNCCD CSO Panel (global) has already validated its two-year work plan. The first step is to take stock of the existing situation, i.e. the accredited organisations and what they are doing on the ground. This will allow us to have a reliable data base to make decisions and implement consequent projects. To support the adoption of such a protocol, and I must remind you that it is the « Parties » (delegates from the 195 States that have ratified the Convention, editor’s note) that have the right to vote, but the CSOs, also called « observers », can make proposals and are only taken into account if the General Assembly finds them very relevant as a proposal. This is why we are already preparing a call for contributions and ideas through a Google form to collect contributions from our peers. This long-term work will certainly result in what could be called « Africa’s contribution to the additional protocol ».

An intergovernmental working group on drought was created at COP 15. How does your panel relate to this group?

The aim is to support the work of the COP15 UNCCD presidency, whose high office is held by Donwahi Richard, and that of the Executive Secretariat led by Ibrahim Thiaw, a colleague of experts (delegates from member countries, members of the subsidiary structures of the convention, civil society, international NGOs, experts and consultants in the field of desertification and drought, and the private sector). Two civil society representatives have been nominated, one of them representing South America and the Caribbean (Ana Di Pangracio). You can see that the Panel is well represented in this important working group.

I would also like to take this opportunity to tell you about another Intergovernmental Working Group, the one on the Mid-Term Review of the UNCC Strategic Framework 2028-2030, to which I belong as Chair (or Chair of the CSO PANEL).

Given the ravages of desertification in Africa, a phenomenon that reduces food security in particular, what is your panel doing to give the UNCCD the same influence as the UNCCD?

This is a very important question because the purpose of the presence of CSOs alongside vulnerable populations at the grassroots is to help them deal with this important phenomenon. It is therefore a question of finding simple solutions to enable them to have fertile land useful for their crops and, in turn, save them from famine and ensure food security. This ranges from simple to complex and proven restoration techniques. All this is referred to as Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN).

In fact, the ultimate goal of the Convention’s long and hard work is to save our planet from the legacy of our Mother Earth, the lifeblood of everything that keeps us alive. Working tirelessly to ensure that the substance that gives it its flavour is not missing.

I would like to acknowledge in passing the support and frankness of other UN agencies that support the Convention in achieving its noble goals. These include the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and international NGOs such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

What are the projects of your panel in the fight against desertification in Africa?

It is essentially a question of listing all the good practices tried and tested on the continent in order to make a good database useful for sharing experiences through an official website dedicated to the cause. We are planning to start a series of webinars on training and capacity building of the panel’s actors on themes that we will make available very soon.

Beyond that, we are keen to organise an international African civil society forum on issues affecting the convention by the end of our mandate.

Interview by Boris Ngounou

Charles Balogoun: « Over 70% of arable land is already degraded

Oyéoussi Charles Balogoun is the Africa Representative of the NGO Panel under the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). The Civil Society Panel (CSO Panel) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) represents nearly 500 organisations accredited to the Convention. Charles Balogoun is also the Global President and Chairman of the Board of the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Afrique Espérance. He answers ENVIRONNEMENTALES’s questions on the state of desertification in Africa.

Between 2013 and 2019, West African and Sahelian countries have received only 7% of their nature and climate finance needs. This situation was lamented at the workshop on nature and climate finance strategies in the WAEMU space, April 3-6, 2023 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

International funding for climate policies in the West African sub-region is still largely insufficient. Between 2013 and 2019, West African and Sahelian countries received a total of $11.7 million in international funding, or 7% of the funding needs declared in the NDC (Nationally Determined Contributions) benchmarks of these countries.

It is in this context that the workshop on financing strategies for nature and climate in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) was held from April 3 to 6, 2023 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Organized by WAEMU and the West African Development Bank (WADB), the workshop aimed to find ways and means of maximizing the mobilization of funding for NDCs in member countries. It was also about increasing the coherence of interventions by sub-regional organizations so that they can best support WAEMU member states.

« It is time, given the importance of the issues at stake, that there is an increased mobilization of States, but also of regional organizations so that together, we can achieve a structural transformation of West African economies based on the recognition of the preservation of natural ecosystems, » said Kako Kossivi Nubukpo, the WAEMU Commissioner in charge of Agriculture, Water Resources and Environment.

For her part, Valérie Noëlle Kodjo Diop, Director of Innovation and Sustainable Development at the BOAD, said that her institution is committed to supporting solutions to halt the loss of biodiversity, restore ecosystems and species, and drive systemic change throughout the supply chain and beyond.

Africa facing more extreme climate events

According to Climate Funds (November 2020), international finance mobilization to developing countries reached nearly $80 billion in 2018, with only 25% of the funds allocated to Africa, the continent most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

In its sixth report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) highlights a key finding for Africa: the continent is already experiencing more extreme heat events, more drought, but also more extreme precipitation events than in the recent past. These phenomena, along with rising sea levels and the consequent increased risk of flooding of coastal areas, will inexorably increase in the coming decades, even if the world’s largest CO2-emitting countries manage to considerably reduce their own emissions.

Fanta Mabo

The Algerian government has just presented the rehabilitation and extension program of the « green dam », a forest belt linking the eastern and western borders of Algeria, over 15,000 kilometers. The program extends over 7 years with an investment of 552 million dollars. And for the year 2023 alone, an amount of $73 million has been released.

In Algeria, the Directorate General of Forestry indicated in late February 2023, a first envelope of $73 million has been released for the rehabilitation of the Green Dam during the current year.

The work will be carried out by the Public Group of Rural Engineering (GGR) and the National Bureau of Studies for Rural Development (BNEDER). This is the reforestation of 7 440.5 hectares of forest areas, 2 640 hectares of pasture, 444.16 hectares of prickly pear and 4 331.5 hectares of fruit trees in addition to the achievement of 1 012.5 km of windbreaks. In addition to these actions, work to achieve a green strip on an area of 929.5 hectares and projects to stabilize sand dunes on an area of 1 129.5 hectares. Particular interest will be given to the preservation of water and soil to ensure the preservation of 30 100 m3 of this vital resource.

A 7-year program

This year’s work on the Green Dam is the beginning of a seven-year program. With a budget of $ 552 million, this program 2023-2030 intends to increase the initial perimeter of the green dam which is about 3.7 million hectares to 4.7 million hectares and affect 13 wilayas (departments, editor’s note), three more than at the launch of this mega project.

Initiated in the 1970s by former President Houari Boumediene, the Green Dam project aims to deploy a huge forest belt of 1,500 kilometers long and about 20 kilometers wide, linking the eastern borders to the western borders of the largest African country. The objective is to serve as a natural bulwark against the advance of the desert.

But for some environmentalists, the green dam is a project with much more economic than environmental benefits. « This new project has been thought of in my humble opinion more as a sustainable development zone than a green dam in the literal sense of the term. Its dimension is as much economic and social as environmental. What remains to be done is to transform words into deeds, objectives into concrete and sustainable results. It is most of the time at this decisive level that the problem recurs, » says environmental activist Karim Tedjani.

Fanta Mabo

Des pluies diluviennes ont entraîné des inondations et des coulées de boue dans la ville de Buea, région du Sud-Ouest, faisant deux morts, des blessés et de nombreux dégâts matériels. Greenpeace adresse ses condoléances aux familles durement éprouvées et invite le gouvernement camerounais à plus d’actions et de proactivité.

Le weekend du 18 au 19 mars 2023 a été éprouvant pour les habitants de la ville de Buea au Cameroun. Le retour des pluies a entraîné avec lui des inondations incluant des coulées de boue dans la ville. D’après les informations, ces inondations ont fait deux morts et des blessés et plusieurs personnes sont encore portées disparues. Au total, près de 300 personnes, vivant au pied du Mont Cameroun  ont été affectées par cet incident.

« La problématique du changement climatique et des événements météorologiques extrêmes sont une réalité et des mesures d’adaptation doivent être mises en place de manière proactive par le Gouvernement au risque de retrouver à faire les mêmes constats des dégâts après la survenance des catastrophes. Ce bilan enregistré à Buea ce weekend fait peur quand on sait qu’on n’est qu’aux premières semaines après le retour des pluies. », a déclaré Ranece Jovial Ndjeudja, Responsable de la campagne forêt de Greenpeace Afrique pour le Bassin du Congo.

Une note préfectorale rendue publique après ces incidents annonçait le recensement des victimes certainement pour une prise en charge. Des informations ont également été publiées sur des mesures humanitaires mises en œuvre pour porter secours aux populations victimes de ces inondations. « La réaction des autorités et les secours portés aux populations, si pleinement effectifs, sont à saluer et encourager. Toutefois, l’Etat doit travailler en amont pour éviter ou au moins amenuiser de pareils incidents. Les actions implémentées après ces événements, quoique réconfortantes, ne peuvent malheureusement ramener à la vie des personnes décédées. La mise en place et la vulgarisation de systèmes d’alerte, une meilleure utilisation des informations contenues dans les bulletins météorologiques régulièrement publiées ainsi que l’implémentation des mesures d’adaptations et de prévention des risques et catastrophes contenues dans le plan de convergence du Cameroun permettraient d’atténuer fortement ces impacts négatifs. » Ajoute Ranece Jovial.

Le 21 mars 2023 au soir, la ville de Yaoundé a elle aussi connu de graves inondations après la forte pluie qui s’est abattue sur la cité capitale.  En 2022, 40 000 personnes ont été déplacées dans l’extrême-nord du Cameroun en raison des inondations. Plusieurs cas d’inondations ont également été observés dans diverses autres villes et localités du Cameroun.

Boris Ngounou

Inondations mortelles de Buéa: Greenpeace Afrique appelle le gouvernement à prendre des mesures préventives

Des pluies diluviennes ont entraîné des inondations et des coulées de boue dans la ville de Buea, région du Sud-Ouest, faisant deux morts, des blessés et de nombreux dégâts matériels. Greenpeace adresse ses condoléances aux familles durement éprouvées et invite le gouvernement camerounais à plus d’actions et de proactivité.