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Africa needs US$150 billion to avert a climate catastrophe

Published 15th October 2010 - 0 comments - 580 views -

By Ochieng’ Ogodo

To avert a climate catastrophe and enable mitigation, adaptation and technology transfers to Africa countries, a whooping US$ 150 billion is needed immediately in special drawing rights, Augustine Njamnshi of the Pan-Africa Climate Justice said yesterday.

He also said the continent requires US$ 400 billion in fast track financing. “We call for a multilateral climate fund to be established,” he said

Curbing global emission cuts within a decade requires technological transfers on a scale never before considered according to Njamnshi. “We need a marshal plan for Africa and the earth,” he told a plenary session at the Seventh Africa Development Forum.

Developed countries, in his view, must remove intellectual property rights and pay full incremental costs of technological transfers to prevent further  human rights violations in Africa and to protect developing countries and to peak and declined global emissions.

Climate change, Njambi stated, affects all countries and all must be involved in finding solutions and thereby diminish its cost on human and to address the right to development through international cooperation.

On the climate change negotiations, Njamnshi said significant progresses made before and after the COP 15 in Copenhagen were being undermined allegedly by efforts aimed at keeping some people out of the negotiations process.

The Kyoto Protocol, which is the only legally binding engagement for emissions reduction under climate change negotiations, should continue beyond 2012 with developed countries reducing their emissions by at least 50 percent from the 1990 levels by 2017.

The protocol is coming to an ending 2012 and its the worry of many that at its collapse there will be no global legal instrument for forcing emission cuts. 

“We should continue to put pressure on the United States of America to join the Kyoto Protocol or at least to make comparable efforts under the convention,” he said.

The developed world, Njamnshi said, was responsible for the climate change and its adverse consequences which have affected developing countries with Africa being the worst hit and should compensate the continent by dedicating part of the Gross  National Product to enable them adapt.

“We therefore support the African Group’s position that the initial finance of 2.5 percent of the [developing world] GNP is required to fund full costs of adapting to climate change,” stated Njambi.

Dan Ogolla Legal advisor to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change said the negotiations for the post 2012 could appear frustrating but that was because of the complex nature of climate change negotiations.

“The negotiations could be complex and difficult both on the levels and issues,” he told the plenary.  Whereas there has been some element of passim about the upcoming COP 16 in Cancun, Ogolla said clarity was beginning to emerge in areas Kyoto protocol, mitigation and adaptation, finances and technological transfers.

But the negotiations decisions, he explained, were reached through consensus which means some members could stall the process if they were not all in agreement.

Category: Climate Science, | Tags:



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