DECISION ON THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF AFRICAN HEADS OF
STATE AND GOVERNMENT ON CLIMATE CHANGE (CAHOSCC)
Doc. Assembly/AU/10(XXXIII)
The Assembly,
TAKES NOTE of the Report of the Coordinator of the Committee of the African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC), H.E. Cyril RAMAPHOSA the President of the Republic of South Africa on the outcomes of the 25th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 25); 15th Meeting of the Parties serving as the Conference of the Parties to its Kyoto Protocol (CMP 15) and the Second Session Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA 2) and ENDORSES the recommendations therein;
FURTHER TAKES NOTE with appreciation the preparatory meetings convened by the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) and meetings of the African Group of Negotiators (AGN) in preparation for the COP, in particular, the two AMCEN meetings in Durban, South Africa and Madrid, Spain;
EXPRESSES APPRECIATION to the Republic of Gabon for coordinating the work of CAHOSCC from 2017-19 and ACKNOWLEDGES the utmost commitment of CAHOSCC in the provision of the political oversight and guidance in facilitating Africa to be stronger, unified in the spirit of Pan-Africanism and speaking with one voice in the global Climate Change negotiations;
WELCOMES the Republic of South Africa as incoming Coordinator of CAHOSCC and supports the ongoing work of CAHOSCC in advancing the interests of the African Continent; and EXPRESSES APPRECIATION to the Republic of South Africa as the President of the AMCEN, for the outstanding achievements in providing political direction and maintaining the unity of Africa in the pursuit of its interest in the climate change negotiations at COP25;
FURTHER EXPRESSES APPRECIATION to the Republic of Congo and the Republic of Niger, Presidents of the Congo Basin Climate Commission and of the Climate Commission for the Sahel Region, as well as to the Republic of Gabon and the Republic of Guinea, as Champion of the Africa Adaptation Initiative and as Coordinator of the Africa Renewable Initiative, for their committed leadership in expediting the operationalisation and scaling-up of Africa’s climate initiatives;
CONGRATULATES Republic of Seychelles on the successful launch of the African Islands States Climate Commission on the margins of the 33rd Ordinary Session of Assembly of the African Union;
RECOGNISES the continued commendable role of the African Group of Negotiators in representing the interests of Africa in the UNFCCC negotiations, speaking with one voice to advance the interest of Africans and NOTES WITH APPRECIATION the support provided by the African Union Commission (AUC) and all the partners in particular by AfDB, UNDP, UNEP and the Republic of Germany;
CONGRATULATES the Republic of Chile for successfully leading COP 25/CMP15 and CMA2, and WELCOMES the holding of COP26 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland;
ACKNOWLEDGES the importance of the recent findings of the international scientific community regarding climate change, including the three recent special reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC); Report on Global Warming of 1.5 degrees, Climate Change and Land Report, Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate, and RECOGNISES that the reports call for ambitious action to address climate change and its impacts on Africa;
CONCERNED that the total global emission has increased and Parties with historical responsibility to act and the capacity to respond to climate change have not fulfilled their commitments, while the African continent, a continent comprising of 55 countries, contributes only 4% of the total global emissions;
REITERATES the need to ensure a practical multilateral approach for addressing the global challenge of climate change through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), REAFFIRMING our commitment to implement the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement, in the best interest of African countries, while ensuring eradication of poverty and promoting sustainable development; and STRESSES the importance of ensuring adequate support for Africa’s sustainable development path including through policies to allow the sustainable use of Africa’s stranded assets;
EMPHASISES that the African continent as a whole is facing unprecedented pressure owing to various extreme weather events and slow-onset events accentuated by climate change, including flash floods; heavy rainfall, water scarcity and drought, which has displaced thousands of people and caused deaths in North Africa; landslides, which have caused thousands of deaths in Central Africa; severe drought, affecting livestock, water, crops, wildlife and the energy sector in East Africa; extreme events in the Western Africa region, which have caused flash floods, resulting in the loss of lives, displacing thousands and destroying infrastructure; and cyclones and drought, which have caused the deaths of thousands and destroyed homes and properties in southern Africa, and EXPRESS SOLIDARITY with countries and people that have been impacted by climate related disasters around the world;
FURTHER REITERATES the mounting vulnerability of the African Continent to current and projected impacts of climate change, and associated economic and non-economic loss and damage under all temperature-rise scenarios, and CALLS UPON PARTIES to fully implement and strengthen the loss and damage mechanism under the Convention and its Paris Agreement, including through support to enable African countries to avert, minimise and address loss and damage associated with climate change impacts;
WELCOMES WITH APPRECIATION the call by H.E. Minister SCHMIDT, Minister of Environment of Chile, as COP25 President, to UNFCCC Parties to consider the special circumstances and needs of Africa, and URGES parties to the Paris Agreement to recognise the particular circumstances and needs of African countries, in line with the relevant and previous decisions adopted by the Conference of the Parties, and CALLS upon the incoming presidency of the COP to continue the consultations, to reach a decision in that regard by COP 26;
EMPHASISES that the effective implementation of the Paris Agreement depends on the fulfilment of the established pre-2020 obligations and URGES developed country parties to continue to fulfil their commitments under the Convention and its Kyoto Protocol;
RECOGNISING that the implementation of the Paris Agreement will begin in 2021, STRESSING the importance of balance in both the organisation and outcome of COP26, to reflect the three-goals of the Paris Agreement, that related and equally important aspects to ambition: ambition concerning Nationally Determined Contribution (NDCs), ambition about the adaptation goal and ambition on means of implementation; to effectively implement the Paris Agreement;
WELCOMES the simple pledges of the first replenishment of the Green Climate Funds (GCF) of USD 9.658 billion for the next four years, and EXPRESSES APPRECIATION to the countries that have contributed to the GCF to promote low-emission and climate-resilient development. FURTHER CALLS upon developed countries to provide new, additional, adequate and predictable financial resources from both public and private entities to the climate-related funds, in particular, the Adaptation Fund, the Global Environment Facility, and the Green Climate Fund, for developing countries to reflect the level of ambition and climate action by African countries;
URGES developed countries to continue to scale up the mobilisation and provision of climate finance towards achieving the 2020 finance goal through public funds to deliver on the US$100 billion, and FURTHER URGES all developed country Parties to the Convention to provide climate finance in line with Article 9 of the Paris Agreement, and to initiate the discussion on the new collective goal on finance from a flow of USD 100 billion per year, taking into account the needs and priorities of developing countries;
ACKNOWLEDGES the decision of the UNFCCC that calls on Parties to revise and enhance NDCs in 2020 in accordance with 1/CP.21 and in line with Article 3 of the Paris Agreement. The NDCs should include mitigation, adaptation and means of implementation, reflecting equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and capabilities of parties, and CONCERNED with the US$ 3 trillion estimated finance gap to implement NDCs;
HIGHLIGHTS the urgency to adapt to the devastating impacts of climate change on the continent and its impact on national budget of African countries with regard to their efforts to eliminate hunger, eradicate poverty, improve health and better education in the context of achieving U.N. sustainable development goals;
STRESSES the need for further elaboration of adaptation planning and implementation under the Paris Agreement to address extreme weather events and slow-onset events, and CALLS upon Parties to continue the elaboration of article 7 of the Paris Agreement, including the operationalisation of the global goal of adaptation, adaptation needs and associated costs, and the recognition of the contributions made by African Countries from their own budgets, and ENCOURAGES African countries to report their adaptation needs, gaps, planning, efforts and action; and FURTHER NOTES that according to UNEP reports, African countries have already contributed some 20 per cent of the annual cost of adaptation from their own budgets;
URGES the consideration of the market mechanism of the Paris Agreement in terms of raising ambition in mitigation and adaptation actions and help to meet the cost of adaptation for developing countries, and to emphasise on the need for the market and non-market-based approaches to ensure environmental integrity, avoid duplication and double counting, and support fair regional distribution and inclusiveness, and STRESSES on the importance to ensure that no discrimination between the different new market mechanisms, and that all the market mechanisms should provide proceeds to adaptation primarily through the Adaptation Fund;
STRESSES that measures are taken to combat climate change, including unilateral measures, and such measures should not constitute discrimination or a restriction on exports from African countries, taking into consideration African trade initiatives and the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, as means to enhance trade among African countries;
WELCOMES the initiatives of the United Nations Secretary-General (UNSG) on climate change and convening the Climate Action Summit for enhancing ambition and accelerating action and CALLS upon the UNSG and partner organisations to follow up on the implementation of the initiatives;
RECALLS Decision 28 of the 2019 Session of CAHOSCC, which urged the Commission in collaboration with Pan African Agencies to organize an African Summit on Climate Change in 2020 prior to COP26, as the year 2020 is critical in the global climate change calendar; and REQUESTS the involved institutions to operationalise this decision; and further CALLS upon African Union Member States to offer to host the proposed summit before COP26;
WELCOMES the holding of the Africa day on the margins of COP25 as an essential event to raise awareness among different stakeholders on Africa’s efforts, priorities and needs in relation to climate change, and commends the AUC and African partners for their efforts in this regard; and further welcomes the holding of the side event on the Congo Basin Blue Fund by H.E. Mr. Denis Sassou Nguesso, President of the Republic of Congo on the margins of COP25;
ACKNOWLEDGES with appreciation the work of the Africa Adaptation Initiative (AAI), the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI), Adaptation of African Agriculture (AAA) Initiative and the African Climate Commissions (Congo Basin Climate Commission, the Climate Commission for the Sahel Region and the African Islands States Climate Commission) in coordinating the implementation of Africa’s response to Climate Change; and CALLS for additional support to scale up the implementation of these initiatives;
INVITES the Republic of Niger, Chair of the Climate Commission of the Sahel Region and the Republic of Seychelles, Chair of the African Islands States Climate Commission, as well as the Republic of Gabon Chair of the Africa Adaptation Initiative and the Republic of Guinea, Chair of the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative to join the CAHOSCC with a view to strengthen the coordination and enhance synergies between these Initiatives;
REITERATES the 2019 Decision for the Commission to develop in consultation with AMCEN, as appropriate, the rules of procedures for CAHOSCC to enhance effective operations of this High Level Committee for the consideration of the CAHOSCC at its next Session.