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- African countries should call for concessional loans in the climate change fight, say experts.
- Africa seeks to table a R22.1 trillion (US$1.3 trillion) purse demand at COP27.
- Zimbabwe and other coal producing countries to voice against the COP26 proposed coal phase-out.
- For more stories, go to the News24 Business front page.
Climate change experts from the continent say African countries should arrive at the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) with an agenda to reframe the climate change debate to better benefit the continent - which is the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, yet contributes low greenhouse gas emissions.
Africa is home to some 17% of the world's population, but contributes 2% to 3% of its carbon emissions.
From 7 November to 18 November, Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt will be hosting global leaders at the COP27 summit which on 7 and 8 November will be a World Leader’s Summit. Thereafter, thematic concerns such as decarbonisation, adaptation and agriculture, gender, water, and biodiversity will be discussed.
Funding a priority
For Ahmed Elfadly, Egypt's ambassador to South Africa, Lesotho, and Botswana, a priority for African countries at the summit is to see to it that European countries and international financiers provide concessional loans.
"The instruments of finance are still mostly providing non-concessional loans, more than concessional loans. We are calling on multilateral development banks to revisit their policies and adapt to a new world where climate change must be prioritised," he said.
Africa was promised R1.7 trillion (R$100 billion) per annum in 2009 for climate change, but for now, the funding stands at R510 billion ($30 billion).
The continent will be pushing for an R22.1 trillion (US$1.3 trillion) per year purse at COP27.
This figure should be channeled towards disasters such as floods that were experienced in South Africa, and the tropical storms and cyclones that have devastated Madagascar, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi, and record-breaking droughts in the Horn of Africa.
Ahead of COP27, the EU's climate chief Frans Timmermans attended a pre-COP27 meeting by African countries in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
He told delegates that the EU was working tirelessly to come up with a package for Africa. The EU among other initiatives has the German-led Global Shield initiative to strengthen disaster risk finance and insurance that will be tabled at COP27.
Faten Aggad, a Climate Diplomacy and Geopolitics at the African Climate Foundation (ACF) said a just transition to a green economy is more urgent than ever.
As such, African countries should look into what are the major needs of each economy on the continent.
South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Nigeria in that order had the biggest coal reserves on the continent.
While coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel responsible for over 0.3 degrees C of the 1 degree C increase in global average temperatures - and is the single largest source of global temperature rise - it is an important element in those countries' economies.
Hence, these countries would raise concerns about the proposed abrupt phasing out of coal-powered electricity stations that were raised in Glasgow at COP26.
The News24 Africa Desk is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation. The stories produced through the Africa Desk and the opinions and statements that may be contained herein do not reflect those of the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
