UN Climate Change News, 7 September 2022 - At last week's Africa Climate Week, government and non-Party stakeholders gathered to deliberate on the first global stocktake, a center piece of the Paris Agreement designed to ramp up action and ambition on climate change.
The global stocktake takes the pulse of the world's collective progress towards achieving the Paris Agreement's goal to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and to build resilience to the unavoidable impacts of accelerating climate change. And it inspires key stakeholders to do more to achieve the goals. Achieving the 1.5 C degrees goal is essential to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, including more frequent and severe droughts, heatwaves and floods.
During this year's Africa Climate Week, participants gathered to discuss the challenges, barriers, solutions and opportunities for climate action and support specifically within the context of Africa, and shared information on how stakeholders can engage in the process.
One example of collective progress on climate action was highlighted by Amjad Abdulla, head of partnerships at the International Renewable Energy Organization (IRENA).
His organization works with over 70 countries across the world, many in Africa, harnessing the potential for renewable energy, supporting countries to promote collective action to increase sustainable electricity generated from renewable sources in the region. This includes (link is external) IRENA's Africa Clean Energy Corridor framework, which covers plans for a power transmission corridor encompassing 21 African countries.
Another innovative example of collective action came from Omnia El Omrani, the COP27 Presidency's Youth Envoy. Omnia El Omrani spoke of the example of young entrepreneurs in Egypt, who are leading innovative research by introducing solar-powered irrigation systems to many small-scale farms in Egypt.
She said this shining example highlights "the need for governments and different stakeholders to create innovative hubs, foster and harness grassroots impacts and solutions that youth experts and entrepreneurs are doing."
Richard Munang, acting Deputy Regional Director of the United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP's) Africa Office, also stressed the importance of youth for climate action. "You cannot address any challenge while ignoring your powerhouse: African youth is Africa's powerhouse," she said.
During in-depth discussions at the event, government and civil society representatives discussed detailed ways the concrete global stocktake outputs could inspire ambitious climate action in Africa, and highlighted effective and innovative solutions in the region.
Melanie Chirwa of Slum Dwellers International gave an example of Senegal's efforts to deal with rising sea levels, with non-governmental organizations working to deploy funds and implement solutions as fast as they can.
Senegal receives funding from the (link is external) Adaptation Fund, which finances projects and programmes that help developing countries adapt to the impacts of climate change. A that has received a UN climate action award reduce exposure to climate change impacts on the coast by protecting houses and coastal infrastructure such as fishing docks, fish processing plants and even tourism that are threatened by erosion and salt-water intrusion.
Manuel Marques Pereira of the International Organization for Migration noted that there is a long history of human mobility linked to the environment in Africa, with the continent hosting 37% of the world's nomadic population.
He said that whilst seasonal migration has been a way for certain rural communities to cope with environmental pressures, in 2021 alone climate-related disasters accounted for 2.6 million new internal displacements in Africa. He called for sustainable situations for internal displacement, and to debunk the myth that climate change is primarily causing migration across borders.
High level speakers at the 2022 the global stocktake event included Lee White, Minister of Forests, Oceans, Environment and Climate Change, Republic of Gabon; Ambassador Janet Rogan, COP26 Presidency Representative; Mr. Sherif Dawoud, COP27 Presidency Representative; Omran Almazrouei, COP28 Presidency Representative; Mr. Nigel Topping, UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for the United Kingdom; Mr. Harald Winkler, GST1 Technical Dialogue co-facilitator and Cecilia Kinuthia-Njenga, Director Intergovernmental Support and Collective Progress UNFCCC. The event was moderated by Dr. Musonda Mumba.
All speakers highlighted the need for strong political leadership to facilitate the achievement of the goals of the Paris Agreement, with a unanimous view that the world can't manage what it can't assess.
A detailed report from the event in Libreville, Gabon will soon be posted online.
Learn More
- Detailed information on the global stocktake, including mandated decisions, timelines.
- Background on the information collection and preparation component of the first global stocktake.
- How to submit to the global stocktake.
