Africa rejects new climate change pact

As the clock ticks towards the climate change talks in Copenhagen, Africa has now declared that it will not accept a new pact to replace the Kyoto Protocol.

The African negotiators have also stated that neither will they accept a merger of the protocol that is currently in use, with a new agreement.

In a statement to mark the end of their Second Technical Meeting in Addis Ababa, the negotiators said successful negotiations should produce a two-pronged outcome.

They want sections of the Kyoto Protocol on the developed countries to be amended to include further commitments for a second and subsequent commitment periods.

Africa also wants a separate legal instrument to be developed based on the outcome of the negotiations of the Bali Action Plan under the Climate Change Convention.

The statement reiterated that Africa should be equitably compensated in the context of environmental justice, for environmental resources, economic and social losses considering developed countries historical responsibilities on climate change.

“In this respect, Africa requires new, sustained and scaled-up finance, technology and capacity for adaptation and risk management,” the statement read in part.

Africa wants the outcome of the Copenhagen convention to provide new, additional, sustainable, accessible and predictable finance to support a comprehensive international programme on adaptation, that reduces vulnerability and increases resilience.

The provision of financial, technological and capacity building support by developed country parties for adaptation in developing countries, they argued, is a commitment under the climate change Convention that must be urgently fulfilled.

The second technical meeting in Addis Ababa brought together about 150 African lead negotiators and high level experts on climate change from all African countries.

It is an initiative of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment and the African Union, (AU), in collaboration with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the United Nations Environment Programme.

This was one of the last meetings the continent is holding to consolidate consensus on its common position and was held in the backdrop of new developments in the ongoing negotiations on climate change, which tend to suggest the replacement or the merger of the Kyoto Protocol, among others.

The updated and consolidated African Common Position will be submitted to African Ministers and Heads of State on the eve of the COP- 15 in Copenhagen.

The negotiators’ statement said that the post-2012 regime should be based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

“Africa’s shared vision calls for a fair, inclusive, effective and equitable new agreement in Copenhagen that will benefit the climate and vulnerable countries and be undertaken in the context of poverty eradication, sustainable development and the need for gender equity,” the statement said.