Climate and Development
National Public Radio ran a report on some of the tension and decision-making taking place in Copenhagen as African leaders aggressively advocate for the continent’s role in climate change negotiations.
You can listen to the full report here:
Dec 16th, 2009 10:56 AM UTC
By A.M.
REDD. It stands for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation. But even that term is now outdated; it is now REDD+. The plus has been added to include other forest management activities such as afforestation and sustainable land management. With the Congo Basin and so many other forest opportunities for Africa, the operationalization of REDD+ can benefit Africa in great scales.
The good news is that this issue is moving forward in Copenhagen and there is common will by both developed and developing countries to get it operationalized. Australia, the United States, G-77, and Alliance of Small Island States have all indicated support for finalizing REDD+ in Copenhagen.
As the second week of the Copenhagen climate change talks begins, it’s a good time to think about exactly why the negotiations matter so much to Africa.
So with help from our friends at WWF we’ve put together a series of personal testimonies showing how climate change is already affecting the continent today.
From Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya the story is a similar one. Climate change is not a crisis of developing countries’ making, yet the impacts of global warming are already hitting the world’s poorest people hardest.
Augustine Yelfaanibe from Ghana reports how rainfall has become less and less reliable making it harder for farmers to plan the planting of crops, whilst Nelly Damaris Chepkoskei from Kenya explains how changes in climate have led to an increase in cases of malaria:
“..one of the effects of the higher temperatures is the increased number of mosquitoes resulting in increased incidence of malaria in this district. This started in the 1980s. Now, people are even dying from malaria, something that was virtually unheard of 20-30 years ago.”
As the negotiations continue in Copenhagen, policy makers need to ensure that the voices of those affected by climate change are heard, and that they deliver a climate deal that meets the hopes and expectations of millions of people around the world.
As Rajabu Mohammed Soselo from Tanzania says:
“My community members, my family and I are very concerned about this. I do hope that governments will do whatever can be done to stop these climatic changes. I also hope that measures will be taken to help my community cope with all the changes in our local environment.”
We hope that world leaders are listening.
Read the stories and find out what you can do.
Dec 15th, 2009 9:31 AM UTC
By A.M.
Not sure if three US Senator names were ever more widely talked about in Copenhagen. The world knows that the US Senate is the parameters under which the US is negotiating, so on Thursday when Senators John Kerry (D-MA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) introduced their framework for climate action in the Senate, the news made its way around the world rather quickly.
Consequential to Africa was this language the Senate framework: “…we acknowledge the role the United States can play to help provide long-term financing to assist developing countries adapt to climate change, generate energy cleanly and reduce emissions for deforestation.” You can read the Senators’ letter to President Obama and the framework here.
Dec 14th, 2009 5:29 PM UTC
By A.M.
As statements are being made at Copenhagen, it might be good to know who’s who. Every country is able to speak on its own behalf, but generally the conference is organized into negotiating groups – this allows countries with the same priorities to speak with a unified voice and gain more influence in the negotiations.
The G77 and China is a group of 130 developing countries that also belong to other subgroups. The G77 and China have been represented by Sudan during this first week.
The subgroups include the Alliance of Small Island States which is a group of 43 countries that as you’d expect, are small islands. They have been represented by Tuvalu. The Least Developed Countries is a group of 49 countries that are defined as least developed, and they have been represented by Lesotho. And The Africa Group is the group of African states being represented by Algeria.
This week you saw some cracks in the G77 and China, an interesting development in terms of priorities for them as a bloc going into week two.
The European Union is the group of 27 countries in the EU which are being represented by Sweden. The Umbrella Group is a loosely composed group of industrialized countries outside the EU which include Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Ukraine, and the United States. They have been primarily represented by Australia.
The one thing all the groups seemed to agree on in the opening session was quick start funding for adaptation. Lesotho made the point that adaptation is the highest priority for LDCs, and the financing needs to be over and above existing aid commitments, in order for the Millennium Development Goals to be reached.
Washington Post reports that a boycott staged by participating developing nations at the Copenhagen summit has ended:
Global climate talks resumed late Monday afternoon, after a large bloc of developing countries agreed to rejoin discussions that they said threatened to undermine a pact that has governed climate policy for more than a decade.
Sweden’s Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren, whose nation holds the European Union presidency, said informal consultations had resolved the matter. The temporary boycott suspended the operation of several working groups that have been trying to craft language for a new political agreement on climate change.
The group of developing nations, known as the G-77, accused the United States and other industrialized countries of forsaking the Kyoto Protocol, the climate agreement that imposes emission limits on nearly every developed nation.
Arjun Mody who’s covering the summit in Copenhagen will have a helpful glossary of some of these Copenhagen terms (like G-77) shortly.
Dec 14th, 2009 9:30 AM UTC
By A.M.
I’m currently in Copenhagen covering the climate summit. Check back on the ONE Blog this week where I’ll be reporting regularly:
The doors have closed, negotiators have done as much as they are going to do for now, and the first week of negotiations have concluded. The past week saw the small-island state of Tuvalu become famous, the so-called Danish Text cause an uproar, the EU pledging about $10 billion over the next three years for climate financing, and side-events (or shows in some instances) take place all over the city of Copenhagen.
Ministers arrived over the weekend and began negotiating in earnest behind closed doors. It’s a short work week for them before the conference turns to a high-level summit with Heads of State arriving on Thursday. President Obama comes to town on Friday. Things are just heating up.
