Africa will negotiate for a new era of green industrialisation

Speaking at the African Pavilion at COP 21, Mr Carlos Lopes asserted that the rapid economic growth experienced by many African countries over the last decade comes despite major challenges that other continents have not had to face, such as complexities around intellectual property and more sophisticated trade regulations. “Africa is industrialising in an environment where achieving growth is more challenging. Windows that were open for other continents, enabling them to industrialise quickly and easily, are now closed for Africa.” However, in these seemingly adverse conditions lie clear opportunities which Africa can readily harness. As a latecomer, Africa can take immediate advantage of the new technologies that have been put in place over the last ten years. Africa has, for example, asserted itself as the leader in mobile banking technologies. In the same way, the continent is well placed to capitalise on new advances in renewable energy infrastructure and technologies. “We have the potential to access renewable energy at a time when the price for producing this energy is comparable to fossil fuel production. Industrialised countries will have to retrofit older infrastructure to harness the sector’s vast potential. Africa, however, is not married to any technological platform and is ready to leapfrog to these new, efficient and more sophisticated technologies.” Furthermore, with a rapidly growing population – set to reach 2 billion by 2050 – Africa will have an immense labour force ready to support this growth. By capitalising on these new technologies, Africa is poised to be the first continent to industrialise through powering renewable energy potential. “Our renewable energy potential is the best in the world, giving us a ticket for green industrialisation; a ticket to do things differently. Africa is here at the COP21 climate negotiations to clearly make this case. We are ready to negotiate hard for a climate deal that will allow the continent to pursue this pathway to a greener industrialisation that will not only further Africa’s development but also make a significant contribution to global efforts to reduce emissions,” Lopes concluded.

Africa is the Continent of now, says Mme Zuma of the AUC

Underscoring the increasing role that Africa now plays in seeking solutions to global impacts of climate change, Madame. Zuma called on Africans present at COP 21 to “prove that we are here, we are present, and we are ready to demonstrate that we can help through substantive contributions towards viable solutions to problems facing humanity, especially those posed by climate change.” “Africa’s contribution are not limited to the COP 21 negotiations but will go far beyond," she said, calling on African negotiators to do their best to defend the Continent’s positions in all the negotiation streams. She thanked the partners in the ClimDev initiative who teamed up with the African Union Commission to set up an Africa Pavilion at COP 21 - United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the NEPAD Agency. A Special Thank You message was reserved for President Boni Yayi of Benin, whose government provided financial support for the pavilion, calling on other governments to follow the example and show that Africa is ready to solve its own problems. Thanks to the pavilion which is hosting hundreds of events to raise awareness of the challenges facing Africa, African leadership the unwritten message of it is that Africa is forging its way, despite a myriad of challenges to address its own problems. She called on those working in the pavilion to make it as dynamic as possible. The Africa Pavilion at COP21 is aimed, among other things, at providing a forum for discussions and debates on climate change issues relevant to Africa, in the broader context of sustainable development. It is conceived as a platform to enhance critical reflections on the relationship between the available information and knowledge, technical services and policy directions on climate change in Africa. It will create opportunities for knowledge-sharing between policy makers and practitioners, the scientific community and the negotiators on the implications of climate change for the inclusive growth agenda, especially focusing on the interactions between the climate change and vulnerabilities. The African Pavilion will also help to identify opportunities of climate change for Africa. It will catalyze the identification of the climate policies, practices from the recommendations from research, and promote quality scientific research. An important event at the Pavilion will be the Africa Day event at which the Executive Secretary of ECA, Mr. Carlos Lopes; the President of the African Development Bank and the CEO of the NEPAD Planning Agency will discuss priority issues with participants in the event.

Africa drives bold new narrative at COP21, asserts post-COP period will be key

Speaking in the aftermath of the landmark Paris conference, Ms. Denton commended Africa’s positive and tireless commitment throughout the entire negotiation process, successfully demonstrating its weight in the global climate negotiating arena. “The significance of this COP was clear; this was the frontier COP, the COP of humanity. If an ambitious agreement was not achieved in Paris, the opportunity would have been missed. “Africa came to these negotiations with determination and commitment, indicating that it is far more than just an observer. We reminded the world that as fifty-four countries, Africa is a considerable force – and, without the buy-in of these countries, there would have been no global agreement. At COP21, Africa laid out a clear set of issues and left the conference with a real sense of satisfaction, having put these issues firmly on the table.” However, according to Ms. Denton, the signing of the long-awaited climate deal remains only a step in the right direction – for Africa, the real challenge lies in implementation of the agreement in the post-COP period ahead. “Many of the issues the continent brought to COP21 will not be resolved overnight. Much work remains to be done in terms of putting our ambitions and development objectives into practice – a big part of this will be seeing how we can finance these plans.” Yet according to Denton, clear Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC), setting out how African nations will tackle climate change – both in terms of reducing carbon emissions and in adapting to climate challenges – will serve the continent well as it pushes ahead with implementation. “Africa’s INDCs, including specific proposals on how it intends to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, were the most ambitious of all. These proposals run alongside concrete plans of how the continent intends to drive forward its economy with the development of sectors such as energy, forestry and agriculture. With clear climate action plans that are carefully aligned with national development strategies, Africa has done much valuable work in charting the pathway going forward.” Ms. Denton continued that submitting these ambitious national plans of action have contributed to a bold new narrative for the continent, emerging from the Paris negotiations. These plans, combined with the launch of two dynamic pan-African initiatives - the African Initiative on Adaptation and Loss and Damage, and the African Renewable Energy Initiative - have cemented the continent’s place as a front-runner in a new decarbonised world, and a thought-leader in developing innovative climate solutions. “In Africa’s INDCs and the launch of these two initiatives, Africa set out some very clear and tangible proposals. With this, we have seen a clear shift in narrative, moving away from an old dialogue which saw Africa “asking” – be that for financial support or new technologies. “With its own ambitious plans, Africa has demonstrated that it will not passively wait for things to happen. Instead, it has embraced a new determination and unity, showing the world that it is in control of its own development – and its own destiny,” Denton concluded.