Africa defining vision on invigorating int’l climate action

EGYPT, the incoming presidency of the world climate summit (COP27), is broadening the extent of international consultation and gearing up executive and thematic preparations for the landmark event it will host in Sharm el-Sheikh in November. Recently, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi addressed the Petersburg Climate Dialogue (PCD), highlighting the necessity of maintaining the relevant international momentum and affirming the commitment of all governmental and non-governmental parties to turn their promises and pledges to actual implementation on the ground. Tomorrow, Egypt will launch, in co-operation with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the UN High-Level Climate Champions for Cop26 and COP27, a roundtable on building climate resilience in Africa at the UN Conference Centre in Addis Ababa. Themed “Towards COP27: African Regional Forum on Climate Initiatives to Finance Climate Action and SDGs,” the roundtable aims to identify mechanisms for mobilising climate finance investments and advancing sustainable development. As such, the theme fits well in the context of the continent’s efforts under way to promote its capacity for dealing with climate change effects while having to concomitantly pursue sustainable development processes under conditions of global food and energy crises; hence ECA’s estimate that Africa will require investments of over $3 trillion in mitigation and adaptation by 2030 in order to implement the carbon emission-cutting and climate adaptation plans as envisaged under the Paris Agreement.

So, the timing and topic of the roundtable would considerably enable African countries to chart a common attitude towards most of the issues that are likely to draw focus during the Sharm el-Sheikh summit. Also with its timing and topic, the roundtable would help provide expert conceptual background for the work of a high-level meeting that African countries have scheduled to convene in Sharm el-Sheikh on September 5. Coming as it will be just two months ahead of the big global summit event, the September 5 meeting will bring together the ministers in charge of finance, economy, development and development in African countries in order to finalise a shared vision on issues that would feature prominently in COP27 summit debate. And by delegating the ministers in charge of the four portfolios of direct relevance to climate action, African countries are in fact reflecting a common attitude of seeking to define in pragmatic terms the continent’s view on almost all issues and priorities of international climate action. Such an attitude would facilitate the achievement of accord at the level of the world summit. In particular, the participation of the top-most officials in charge of finance, economy, development and environment in the work of the African meeting would help the presentation of the continent’s insight into international climate action’s four inter-linked areas of priority, contributing in effect to enriching the November summit’s consideration of these areas.