COP 25: African Parliamentarians called to speak with one voice to make themselves heard

AfDB NEWS & EVENTS

07-Dec-2019

"African parliamentarians must speak with one voice to make their voice heard in climate negotiations," said Arona Soumaré, senior climate change and green growth expert at the African Development Bank, on Thursday during the 25th session of the Conference of the Parties on Climate (COP 25).

 "For the effective implementation of the Paris Agreement, parliaments must make strong decisions in a more concerted manner to deal with climate change. The commitments made must be reflected in the initiatives of national legislation. These actions must be endowed with appropriate financial resources. They must also benefit from rigorous monitoring by governments. Parliaments are at the heart of the response to climate change so that our climate resilience financing priorities are taken into account, "he pleaded at the parallel session of the Pan African Parliament (PAP) on the role of African parliamentarians in the implementation of the Paris Agreement.  

This panel co-organized by the Bank, the PAP and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie (APF) intervenes to set up a collaborative framework. The goal is to strengthen the synergy of our organization and equip African MPs with the necessary tools to implement the Paris Agreement and achieve the objectives of Nationally Determined Contributions (CDN).

"African parliamentarians are a force of proposal and are able to be at the forefront of this fight against climate change," said Arona Soumaré.

Currently, about 38% of the Bank's funding is allocated to climate-related projects. "We will continue to mobilize more resources for the fight against climate change," he said. He recalled that the Bank is committed to increasing climate finance to $ 25 billion between 2020-2025.  

The president of the Pan-African Parliament, Hon Nkodo Roger Dang, reiterated the need to unify the actions of African countries so that the "special needs" of the continent related to climate change, are recognized as such. "African countries can not be treated in the same way as Western countries in these negotiations. They do not have the same capacity for development, "he said.   

According to Mithika Mwenda, executive director of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), all the reports and studies agree on the "special status" of Africa. "We are determined to work so that this status is recognized during these negotiations," he concluded.

The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 25) is being held in Madrid, Spain, from 2 to 13 December 2019. During this conference, countries will negotiate more ambitious programs to limit global warming to 1.5 ° C, in accordance with the Paris Agreement.