Africa needs unified approach in fighting for climate interests

Last week, Environmental Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale (pictured) joined his counterparts from Africa in the Ivory Coast Capital Abidjan for the tenth special session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) whose theme resolved around land degradation and desertification, seeking to build consensus for the 16th edition of the UN Convention on Desertification scheduled to take place in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia, next month.

The meeting also provided an opportunity for Duale and other ministers to state Africa’s position ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan. The annual conference is expected to build on previous successes and pave the way for future ambition to effectively tackle the 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 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.

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Ahead of this crucial AMCEN, the UN Economic Commission for Africa, together with the 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 latest developments in climate action discourses and build consensus on key messages to convey to the Ministers ahead of the COP29. 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 including Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), among other partners.

Curiously the two important processes took place in Abidjan, 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 for the African Union and UN to cement unities among the continent’s stakeholders in preparation for critical global conversations which require a unified approach.

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legendary interference by externally driven vested interests, short-term nationalistic interests and primitively outdated egocentric bigotry by section of leaders.

It appears AMCEN and UNEP, its Secretariat, are a closed system, that requires 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.

AMCEN should go beyond declarations and ensure that critical issues get traction in policy implementation instead of repeating what they are used to every year, which has turned it into an annual cut-and-paste affair.

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

 Indeed, in the continent’s desire for bigger dividends in international climate action conversations, the Platform is recognized as single most crucial pillar complimenting the other two pillars in the continent’s pot in cultivating a unified position – the African Group of Negotiators and the Committee of Heads of States and Governments on Climate Change – and thus should thus be navigated to deliver on its rightful mandate in this process.