Durban : Africa’s plight critical in COP17

Minister of Environmental Affairs

It is of special significance that, as the need to renew and revise the Kyoto  Protocol becomes urgent, the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the  United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is happening on African soil.
Africa has contributed least to the build  up of greenhouse gases globally, but will  be in the frontline of the adverse effects of  climate change.
We are highly dependent on climate- sensitive sectors such as rain-fed agriculture. Combined with the severe development challenges the continent already faces, this makes Africans particularly  vulnerable to the impacts of climate  change.
The average African generates about 13 times less greenhouse gases than his counterpart in North America. In 2007, the continent accounted for less than 4% of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions. However, without an overriding mitigation and adaptation agenda, we may see these figures rise in years to come, as development and population rates grow.
The challenge for Africa is to decouple economic and social development from the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation to an extent which has no precedent in the developed world.

Africa needs to embark on a path of sustainable development with new, clean, appropriate technologies and to build climate resilient communities, so as to avoid the environmental mistakes of the developed world.
Considering that 550 million people in Africa do not have access to electricity, there is enormous scope for Africa to become a world leader in the deployment of renewable energy sources. Hydropower, for instance, is an underutilized energy source, with less than 10% of the hydropower potential in Africa being utilized currently. A national, regional and international effort towards unlocking this potential is an example of how African societies could go from being among the  most vulnerable to becoming climate resilient.
South Africa’s National Climate Change Response (NCCR) White Paper, published in October this year, draws on research that suggests an overall decrease in water  availability that will threaten human  health and agriculture in this country in  years to come.
In other parts of Africa with large pastoral communities, such as Kenya, reduced food production and increasingly limited forage and water for livestock is  already evident.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change foresees yields from rain-fed agriculture being reduced by 50% by as soon as 2020. This will spell famine for many.
Added to this is limited access to drinking water and an increased risk of diseases such as cholera as well as malaria becoming more widespread in Rwanda,  Tanzania and Kenya with rises in temperature.
Many countries will shift from water surpluses to water scarcity before 2025.
Responding to climate change requires  global cooperation and accountability. The  1992 Earth Summit in Rio established the  Polluter Pays Principle. In the context of  climate change, this implies a responsibility on the behalf of developed nations  to not only mitigate their emissions, but  take a degree of responsibility for the  consequences of their emissions on the  developing world.
In the same spirit, the South African  government recognizes its role as the major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions on the continent. We are responsible  for 38% of Africa’s total emissions. The  National Climate Change Response White  Paper states our commitment to reduce  CO2 emissions by 34% below a business as  usual trajectory by 2020 and by 40% in  2025 before stabilizing our emissions in  absolute terms, and ultimately reducing  them.
Another area of concern is deforestation. The Agriculture and Food Organization places six out of the 10 largest  forest losses in the world in sub-Saharan  Africa. This is largely due to forest areas  being converted for relatively low-income  usage. A program of incentives to  avoid deforestation in Africa could make  great inroads into mitigating CO2 emissions, at the same time supporting greener alternatives.
Because of Africa’s vulnerability to climate change, failure to contain average  global temperature increases to within  two degrees would be an unacceptable  outcome for the global mitigation effort.
The impacts of climate change know no  border, and it has been a driving force for  cooperation between African governments. The Commission of the African  Union has begun work on an African  strategy on climate change that is built on  four interrelated themes: climate change  governance; mainstreaming climate  change in development; harnessing education, science, research and innovation  for climate change; and promoting regional and international cooperation and partnerships in climate.
Now, in the face of dangerous environmental shifts, the concept of ubuntu –  acting as a member of the human family –  is particularly important. Understanding and addressing the plight of Africa will be  the key that unlocks a new way forward  for the rest of the world. It is essential  that the COP17/7th session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol  negotiations this week produce a credible,  fair, equitable and balanced outcome, and  lead the way for continent-wide adaptation strategies.