African ministers seek unity on climate action amid reform calls

Environment, Climate Change, and Forestry Minister Aden Duale joined his African counterparts in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, last week for the tenth special session of the African Ministerial Conference on Environment (AMCEN).

The session focused on land degradation and desertification, aiming to build consensus for the upcoming 16th UN Convention on Desertification, set for next month in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The meeting also provided an opportunity for Duale and other ministers to state Africa’s position ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 29) in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The annual conference is expected to build on previous successes and pave way for future ambition to effectively tackle climate change challenge. This year’s theme is “enhancing ambition and enabling action” with a special focus on climate financing.

Duale explained that as the chair of the African Group of Negotiators (AGN), Kenya will table Africa’s priorities at the meeting.  He said Africa will demand for a fresh global climate financing goal to replace the $100 billion target.

“Africa is calling for $1.3 trillion per year by 2030, primarily through grants and concessional loans, to avoid worsening the debt situation in developing countries,” explained Duale, adding that the continent will focus on securing climate finance, advancing adaptation efforts and mechanisms of carbon markets.

Ahead of this meeting, the UN Economic Commission for Africa, together with African Union (AU) and African Development Bank (AfDB), had hosted stakeholders from diverse sectors and thematic groups across Africa’s environmental, economic, social and political backgrounds, to exchange ideas, review developments in climate action discourses and build consensus on key messages to convey to the Ministers ahead of the COP 29.

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The 12th Edition of the Climate and Development in Africa Conference (CCDA-XII) is a flagship annual event convened by the Climate for Development in Africa Initiative (ClimDev-Africa) in partnership with civil society groups who include Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), among other partners.

Curiously, the two important processes took place in Cote d’Ivoire ostensibly with near similar goals.

While CCDA-XII’s main theme revolved around climate adaptation finance, AMCEN-10 sought to focus on desertification, perhaps aiming to elevate the political attention of one of the Rio Conventions that has attracted little attention in global political and diplomatic talks.

The two meetings, unfortunately, exposed a disconnect among Africa’s policy-making processes, especially with the creation of multiple platforms the African Union and UN to cement unities among the continent’s stakeholders in preparation for critical global conversations which require a unified approach.

Vested interests

What has afflicted Africa in its search for elusive unity when approaching key international dialogues is its acute fragmentation based not only on linguistic, but also lack of Pan-Africanism, legendary interference by externally driven vested interests, short-term nationalistic interests and primitively outdated egocentric bigotry by a section of leaders.

It appears AMCEN and UNEP, its Secretariat, are closed systems that require urgent reforms to remain relevant to the continent’s emerging needs, especially on the global stage.

While other intergovernmental processes and platforms have relentlessly reinvigorated themselves and their systems within the realm of the exceedingly changing global geostrategic landscape, AMCEN and UNEP seem to have stagnated.

Even the African Union, which used to be regarded as a dumping ground for old, tired and retired civil servants has undergone massive transformation, and injected radically suave individuals who have positioned the once-moribund institution into a persuasive actor in Africa and global affairs.

Ideally, AMCEN should go beyond declarations and ensure that critical issues get traction in policy implementation.

As an important actor in Africa’s environmental policy making and implementation processes, AMCEN should avoid annual rituals and instead focus on real issues affecting the continent especially regarding climate change.

Unfortunately, there is a silent but simmering bickering about its location at UNEP when all other technical committees of the African Union are coordinated by relevant department of the African Union. Food for thought!