“We are losing the fight against climate change… The status quo on climate policy is a suicide…Technology is on our side…We need the political will to tackle climate change…If we fail in climate change, we fail in everything…” António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations

The African Union Commission, the Economic Commission for Africa and the African Development Bank, in collaboration with the Government of Ethiopia and the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance are convening the Eighth Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa from 28 to 30 August 2019 in Addis Ababa, under the theme “Stepping up climate action for resilient economies in Africa – a race we can (and must) win”.

The Paris Agreement on climate change is based on a voluntary bottom-up approach that requires all parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to develop, communicate, implement, monitor and report voluntary but ambitious nationally determined contributions to tackle climate change and adapt to its adverse impacts. Article 2, paragraph 1, of the Paris Agreement states that the overall objective of the Agreement includes strengthening “the global response to the threat of climate change, in the context of sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty, including by: (a) Holding the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels; (b) Increasing the ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change and foster climate resilience and low greenhouse gas emissions development, in a manner that does not threaten food production; and (c) Making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development”. Article 2, paragraph 2, further states that the Agreement “will be implemented to reflect equity and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, in the light of different national circumstances”. Read more...