PACJA lauds President Kenyatta as Chair of AU Committee on climate change

By Rosemary Munala

The Pan African Climate Justice Alliance congratulates HE President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya for assuming the leadership of the Committee of the African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC).

This is a key milestone given that Africa is poised to host the 27th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Cairo, Egypt later in the year.

In a statement released in Addis Ababa today, Dr. Mithika Mwenda, the Executive Director of the PACJA said Kenyatta’s assumption as chair of the CAHOSCC is a clear testimony of how serious the African Heads of State and Government have taken the issue of Climate Change.

“As an alliance of civil society groups, we are glad that the Heads of State and Government have heeded our call to have the 35th African Union Summit turned into a planning committee to the 27th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The outcome from the Summit indicates that our call was well heeded,” said Mithika.

Mithika’s statement is collaborated by sentiments of South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa who said Kenya was best suited for the role as it has been a leading voice on issues of climate change in Africa.

The South African president agreed with the CSOs on the need for Africa to speak with one voice and develop a common position ahead of this year’s COP27.

In two meetings in Cairo last December and in Addis Ababa last week, representatives of African CSOs urged the African leaders to develop strategies that will turn COP27 an African COP, and provide for greater participation of communities experiencing climate crisis given that it will be taking place in Africa.

According to the CSOs, coalescing under the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance, the African leaders must press their northern counterparts to undertake deep emission reductions commensurate to the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming at 1.5 degrees and in proportion to the historical and current emissions.

To this end, they demanded for a stronger language on fossil fuel phase-out as a commitment to reducing emissions. This is in direct opposition to the outcomes from COP26 as captured in the Glasgow Climate Pact.

Among other demands by the African CSOs include the need for COP27 to deliver an ambitious plan on how to significantly increase climate finance for adaptation by 2025 and beyond.

“The COP-27 must move from rhetoric to demonstrable action and ensure that the target of 50:50 split in financing between mitigation and adaptation is met. Additionally, Climate finance for adaptation must be delivered to African countries through grants and must be new and additional to Official Development Assistance (ODA), based on their needs and special circumstances,” said the statement from the CSOs released in the sidelines of the African Union Summit of the Heads of State and Government

According to the climate activists, procedural justice should be an integral part of conversations in the build-up to COP27.

In the spirit of “leaving no one behind”, the UNFCCC Secretariat and all constituent bodies charged with facilitating the negotiations should ensure that all stakeholders, including communities at the frontline of the climate crisis, are legitimately represented in the process,” they said.

In a post-COP26 meeting held in Cairo in December, the CSOs concluded that COP26 was a failed opportunity to spur ambitious action and secure protection for hundreds of millions of people at the frontline of climate crisis in Africa and other developing nations.