At the recently concluded 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt, the Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC) took to the stage to denounce one of the unfulfilled promises of COP26. At the previous summit, donors committed to funding the protection and management of the Congo Basin forests to the tune of 1.5 billion dollars. This commitment is already insufficient. The countries of the sub-region are asking for $100 billion to preserve the forests of the Congo Basin.
Toute l'actu sur la protection de l'environnement
At the recently concluded 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt, the Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC) took to the stage to denounce one of the unfulfilled promises of COP26. At the previous summit, donors committed to funding the protection and management of the Congo Basin forests to the tune of 1.5 billion dollars. This commitment is already insufficient. The countries of the sub-region are asking for $100 billion to preserve the forests of the Congo Basin.
The Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC) was one of the outraged parties at the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27), which was held from 6 to 20 November 2022 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. The organisation, which works for the conservation, sustainable and concerted management of forest ecosystems in Central Africa, has still not received the funds it was promised at COP26 in Glasgow, Great Britain, from 1 to 12 November 2021. « A year ago in Glasgow, Northern countries pledged $1.5 billion to support climate finance in the Congo Basin countries. Since then, we’ve had nothing but words and no concrete funding. It’s time to pay up, because Africa is suffering enormously from the impact of climate change, » says Cameroon’s Forestry Minister Jules Doret Ndongo, current president of COMIFAC.
The amount of 1.5 billion dollars, or more than 980 billion CFA francs, was intended for the development of indigenous peoples and local communities in their efforts to protect tropical forests. This amount is already insufficient in view of the climate emergency. Seasonal disruptions, flooding, drying up of water sources, advancing desert, etc. are some of the climatic phenomena that the populations of this part of the continent have been experiencing regularly in recent years.
A central role in maintaining the global climate balance
To preserve their tropical forests, the countries of Central Africa need much more than the 1.5 billion dollars promised at COP26. Meeting in the city of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on 5 October 2022 ahead of COP27, the forest ministers of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) set a new financial target for the international community. This is a financial envelope of 100 billion dollars per year.
The need for climate financing could be justified by the contribution of the Congo Basin to maintaining the global climate balance. According to COMIFAC’s figures, the Congo Basin, which covers 11 Central African countries, has 24 million hectares of managed forests, including 5.3 million hectares certified according to responsible management standards. Its deforestation rate is estimated at less than 1%, making it one of the largest of the three tropical forest basins, with average greenhouse gas emissions of 530 million tonnes and average absorption of 1.1 billion tonnes of carbon.
Fanta Mabo
In collaboration with the government of Zimbabwe, 61 solar-powered water systems have been installed in Harare by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The initiative will enable the capital’s residents to cope with extreme weather events.
With a component dedicated to combating the effects of climate change, the project launched in 2020 in Harare, Zimbabwe, by the government and its partners, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has relied on renewable energy to provide an alternative water supply system for vulnerable communities.
In a note published on 17 November 2022, the AfDB and UNICEF said that 61 solar-powered water systems had been deployed, 164 boreholes had been rehabilitated and 15 new water points had been dug, benefiting 854,975 people. As part of the project, 10,000 WASH kits were also distributed to beneficiaries, with priority given to people with disabilities or living with HIV/AIDS. And the health and hygiene messages delivered through the project have targeted more than 1.8 million people, according to the two organisations.
Persistent water shortages
The project by the Zimbabwean government and its partners comes against a backdrop of persistent water shortages in many areas in and around Harare, including the town of Chitungwiza. The combined production capacity of the two water treatment plants in the city (Morton Jaffray and Prince Edward) of 704 mega-litres/day cannot meet the demand of some 800 mega-litres/day to supply about 4.5 million people. In fact, current production is even lower, at 500 mega-litres/day. And the quality of the water has deteriorated, due to power cuts that affect the water treatment capacity.
In the absence of alternatives, many Harare residents have fallen back on unsafe water sources, exposing themselves to the risk of water-borne diseases (diarrhoea, cholera, dysentery, typhoid, etc.).
This water stress is mainly caused by global warming. As a result of prolonged droughts, the environment of the Chivero and Manyame watersheds, which supply the city’s two drinking water stations, has deteriorated (increased surface runoff, soil erosion, siltation of lakes, among others). According to the government, these water bodies have declined in volume by 6% and 10%, respectively, from their original capacities.
One of Oxfam’s latest reports, « Hunger in a Warming World », states that Zimbabwe is one of only seven of the 10 African countries identified as being most at risk from climate change worldwide. The southern African country ranks second in the Global Climate Risk Index 2021. And according to the latest projections, Zimbabwe is likely to continue warming by 2080 if nothing is done.
Fanta Mabo
ZIMBABWE: Solar pumps to address climate change in Harare
In collaboration with the government of Zimbabwe, 61 solar-powered water systems have been installed in Harare by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The initiative will enable the capital’s residents to cope with extreme weather events.
Des militants pour le climat d’Afrique subsaharienne se sont réunis le 16 novembre 2022 à Charm el-Sheikh, pour répondre à la ruée vers les combustibles fossiles des dirigeants africains à la 27e Conférence des Nations unies sur le climat (COP27).
Les organisations de la société civile et les militants internationaux, panafricains et nationaux sont consternés par la menace d’étouffer les communautés et les économies dans une production accrue de pétrole et de gaz pour les décennies à venir. Avant la clôture officielle des négociations sur le climat à Charm el-Cheikh, des militants africains ont pris la parole lors d’une conférence de presse le 16 novembre 2022, pour affirmer leur consternation face à la poursuite de la production des combustibles fossiles sur le continent.
Pour les organisationsde protection de la nature Safe Lamu, Stop EACOP, Fridays for future, Powershift Africa, le Mouvement des jeunes pour la protection de l’environnement en République démocratique du Congo (RDC) et Greenpeace Afrique, certains dirigeants africains ont utilisé la 27e Conférence des Nations unies sur le climat (COP27), surnommée « la COP africaine », pour saper les objectifs de l’Accord de Paris sur le climat en poussant à la conclusion de nouveaux accords sur les combustibles fossiles au détriment des populations et du continent. Au-delà de l’expression de demandes collectives concernant un accord sur un mécanisme de financement dédié aux pertes et dommages et de la demande aux nations les plus riches de respecter leurs engagements climatiques en matière d’adaptation et d’atténuation, des délégations africaines ont profité de la conférence pour se rallier à la nouvelle ruée vers le pétrole et le gaz sur le continent.
Le projet Eacop en Afrique de l’Est
« Eacop, le projet franco-chinois d’oléoduc de pétrole brut en Afrique de l’Est est un exemple clair d’exploitation coloniale en Afrique et dans tous les pays du Sud. Avec 1444 km allant de l’Ouganda à la Tanzanie, il deviendrait le plus long oléoduc chauffé du monde, libérant 34 millions de tonnes métriques de CO2 par an, accélérant substantiellement la rupture climatique. », dénonce Patience Nabukalu, militante ougandaise de Stop EACOP et de Fridays for Future.
Le projet de construction d’une centrale à charbon à Lamu, sur la côte nord du Kenya, fait également partie des projets décriés par ces activistes africains présents à la COP27.
« L’industrie des combustibles fossiles a dégradé nos peuples, nos terres, nos océans et notre air. Trop c’est trop. Peu importe le nombre d’accords qu’ils signent, le nombre de pots-de-vin qu’ils versent, ou les costumes fantaisistes qu’ils portent : nous les attendons dans nos communautés, nous les attendons sur les lignes de front. Nous ne nous arrêterons pas tant que nous n’aurons pas assisté à une transition complète vers des énergies propres et renouvelables. », promet Mbong Akiy, responsable de la communication de Greenpeace Afrique.
Ces projets vont à l’encontre des recommandations du Groupe d’experts intergouvernemental sur l’évolution du climat (Giec), selon lequel les infrastructures de combustibles fossiles existantes sont déjà suffisantes pour dépasser la limite de 1,5°C, et de l’Agence internationale de l’énergie (AIE), selon laquelle aucun nouveau gisement de pétrole et de gaz dont l’exploitation a été approuvée n’est compatible avec la trajectoire vers 1,5°C.
Pour parvenir à un résultat significatif en Égypte, « les délégués doivent écouter les populations africaines et non le secteur des combustibles fossiles, et s’engager collectivement à éliminer progressivement tous les combustibles fossiles, refléter cet engagement dans la décision relative à la couverture et accepter la création d’un mécanisme de financement des pertes et dommages », préconisent les défenseurs de la nature.
Boris Ngounou
COP27 : les activistes africains s’opposeront aux projets pétroliers et gaziers
Des militants pour le climat d’Afrique subsaharienne se sont réunis le 16 novembre 2022 à Charm el-Sheikh, pour répondre à la ruée vers les combustibles fossiles des dirigeants africains à la 27e Conférence des Nations unies sur le climat (COP27).
Congo-Brazzaville’s Environment Minister Arlette Soudan-Nonault has decided to leave the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) before the end of the negotiations. She believes that the speeches of the heads of state led to nothing and that the virtues of the Congo Basin as the lungs of the planet were not recognised at their true value.
On the afternoon of 14 November 2022, the Congolese Minister of the Environment announced on her Facebook profile that she had abandoned the 27th United Nations Climate Conference (COP27) before the end of the negotiations. For Arlette Soudan-Nonault, the speeches of the heads of state present at this summit led to nothing and the virtues of the Congo Basin as the lungs of the planet were not recognised at their true value.
« Why is this fist on the table? Because it is not normal, the specificity of Africa, which only emits 4% of global emissions, has not been taken into account. We have come to talk about adaptation, we have come to talk about mitigation, we are good at mitigation, but as responsible people, we must continue to reconcile mitigation and development, so we must move towards an energy transition with clean energy, so we need financing. « We also need, in the context of flooding, erosion and the impact of climate change on our lives, to have what is called financing for loss and damage, but this is another bone in our body: we are given the impression that we have created a new instrument, no! We simply need to put in place the two conventions that have always existed but have never been put into practice.
Failure to deliver on the promises of COP15 in Copenhagen in 2009
In an attempt to address this problem, world leaders at COP15 in Copenhagen in 2009 pledged to collectively mobilise $100 billion per year from 2020 to help developing countries adapt to climate change. But this promise has never been fulfilled.
« In recent years, many developing countries and activists have called for a fund to compensate poor countries for the devastation caused by climate change, for which rich countries are disproportionately responsible because of their past emissions. This call was rejected at last year’s summit (COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland), » says Sameh Shoukry, Egypt’s foreign minister, who is also the president-designate of COP27.
Fanta Mabo
COP27: Congo demands promised funds to protect Central African forests
Congo-Brazzaville’s Environment Minister Arlette Soudan-Nonault has decided to leave the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) before the end of the negotiations. She believes that the speeches of the heads of state led to nothing and that the virtues of the Congo Basin as the lungs of the planet were not recognised at their true value.
As part of the work of the 27th United Nations Climate Conference (COP27), Egypt and about 100 partners, including the African Development Bank (AfDB), have published a document on fair climate finance. The Sharm el-Sheikh Guide to Fair Climate Finance, launched on 11 November 2022, aims to help turn promises into action and strengthen the African continent’s drive for sustainable development.
The 27th UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) is positioning itself more as the COP of climate justice. A guide on equitable climate finance was launched by the Egyptian Ministry of International Cooperation to an audience of development institutions at a high-level panel discussion at COP27, which runs until 18 November 2022 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
The Sharm El-Sheikh Guidebook on Fair Climate Finance aims to develop an international framework for climate finance and help African countries secure more green finance, in an African context marked by budget shortfalls related to the management of the Covid-19 pandemic and soaring energy and food prices.
The guide introduces the principle that climate finance should not be a substitute for development finance, but rather should be additional to it by ensuring that the countries and regions that need it most have the right to access it. It calls on international climate actors to take into account the historical disparities in the distribution of climate finance between countries. It defines the concept of equitable financing in the structuring of international climate finance with the creation of a dedicated mechanism for its implementation.
Africa needs $1.3 trillion to $1.6 trillion
The Sharm El-Sheikh Guide to Fair Climate Finance is the result of a collaboration between the Egyptian Ministry of International Cooperation and more than 100 development partners including the African Development Bank, financial institutions and non-profit organisations. These include the International Monetary Fund, the Rockefeller Foundation, the World Economic Forum, the Climate Investment Funds and the Citi Banking Group.
« Given the devastating effects of climate change, the issue of financing has become central. And with the exacerbation of the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, developing countries and emerging economies are more than ever in need of dedicated financing, which is essential for further climate action, » says Rania Al-Mashat, Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation.
Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank Group, said that « the greatest threat to humanity today is climate change. It places a heavy burden on the world’s poorest and most vulnerable. It is distorting landscapes, ruining people and threatening the lives of billions of people every day.
In its African Economic Outlook 2022 report, the AfDB says Africa needs $1.3 trillion to $1.6 trillion in financing between 2022 and 2030 to effectively address climate change. Of this amount, US$715 billion is needed for mitigation, US$1.3 billion for technical and technological needs, US$289-440 billion for loss and damage, while US$259-407 billion will be needed to finance adaptation to climate change. On this last point, East Africa has the highest estimated cost of adaptation, at $143 billion.
Fanta Mabo
COP27: Launch of a guide on fair climate finance
As part of the work of the 27th United Nations Climate Conference (COP27), Egypt and about 100 partners, including the African Development Bank (AfDB), have published a document on fair climate finance. The Sharm el-Sheikh Guide to Fair Climate Finance, launched on 11 November 2022, aims to help turn promises into action and strengthen the African continent’s drive for sustainable development.