Accra's Action Program to Make Climate Action a Reality



[ad_1]

<! –

->

<! –

->

Although Africa emits few greenhouse gases, the continent remains the region of the world most vulnerable to climate change.

The current low levels of socio-economic development have been identified as the main factor of vulnerability.

In the past, rains were predictable and it was easy for local communities and farmers to plan for the seasons. But times have changed. livelihoods are now affected by the reality of climate change.

The implementation of the EU-UNEP Low-Carbon Development Strategies (Africa LEDS) project has demonstrated through ground-based actions and investment support tools that strategic implementation nationally determined contribution (NDC) priorities, aligned with key socio-economic sectors, can optimize climate and socio-economic benefit priorities simultaneously.

The EU-UNEP Africa LEDS project, funded by the Commission of the European Union, has helped seven partner countries set up structures at the political and operational levels to inform investment decisions. implementation of NDCs, away from traditional approaches focused solely on climate benefits.

Lessons from partner countries

At a closing meeting and peer learning held in Accra, Ghana, partner countries presented the project interventions aimed at "unlocking socio-economic opportunities through low-emission development actions" .

Cameroon has shown that greening the entire cbadava value chain using farm-based nature-based agroforestry approaches, clean energy for processing and ICTs to link markets – as opposed to physical movements and hawking in search of buyers who spend more energy therefore emissions – can create multiple revenue opportunities as foreseen in the country's 2035 vision and drive implementation. implementation of CDNs.

In Côte d'Ivoire, a hands-on demonstration of converting agricultural waste from rice paddies into biofertilizer and fuel briquettes has shown that communities can move away from conventional high-emission approaches to more sustainable approaches and achieve socio-economic benefits in line with their vision for 2020.

Briquette waste reduction tests in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have shown that the country can save up to 5,000 ha of natural forest if the paradigm of waste transformation into briquettes is developed and replicated in the country. National scale.

Kenya has made significant progress in modeling clean cooking solutions: according to modeling results, a potential saving of 2.9 million tonnes of charcoal could be achieved by 2030. If this is the case, translated by a cost, the country would save 165 billion Kenyan shillings by 2030.

Impacts identified in Zambia's modeling activities include job creation, income contribution, GDP and production for communities.

Work in Mozambique has shown that an investment policy in agroforestry combined with solar-powered irrigation would maximize all important parameters of climate action and development in the country.

Ghana has drawn very innovative lessons from its modeling actions, demonstrating that the CND's priorities for domestic energy, forestry, agriculture and land use could be maximized for both climate and climate change. for socio-economic benefits through a trajectory of clean homes using renewable wood.

Five strategic directions for NDCs and low emissions in Africa

The EU-UNEP-Africa LEDS project has resulted in a five-step outcome and lessons to drive NDCs and low emissions from Africa:

First, agriculture and energy, which are key sectors accounting for up to 70% of NDC commitments, to other productive sectors such as waste, forestry and forestry. infrastructure. This work has shown that the maximization of benefits is only possible through the fusion of synergy acts in complementary sectors, as opposed to conventional approaches to actions in sectoral silos.

Second, This work has provided a mechanism of accountability for what countries are doing with their hardcore CDNs – proving that in reality, they could potentially do a lot more than the goal set at their undergraduate CDN with adjustments. minors to take into account the merger. Cameroon and Ghana provided typical cases. In the case of Ghana, combining clean stoves with existing policies and renewable forestry would sequester 85% more carbon and offer cross-cutting socio-economic benefits: more jobs, more jobs and more. 39 savings and fewer deaths due to indoor pollution. In Cameroon, they have proven that the combination of agriculture, energy, ICT and transport would sequester carbon eight times more efficiently and create 5 million additional jobs. Mozambique also indicated in its report that the combination of solar-powered irrigation and agroforestry would sequester 70% more carbon and obtain investment yields twice as high.

Third, This work has shown that NDCs can create opportunities for young people and that their skills, talents and work in progress can be exploited as drivers of NDCs. This will be done through the logic of the merger to maximize climate and socio-economic benefits by involving sectors that interest young people, so that they can be the catalysts for this maximization through actions undertaken . For example, Cameroon has proved that ICT, a sector close to youth, can, through digital marketing, be exploited to create CND that is both climate smart and clean. The merging of clean energy to fuel cbadava processing in Cameroon has led young people to use ICTs, enabling more than 500 women to link their cbadava products to markets. As a result, more income has been generated to generate income not only for women and youth, but also to support the growing importance of climate-friendly cbadava and clean energy, which are the priorities. NDC for Cameroon.

Fourth, Work has shown that business mergers would require harmonization of policy implementation between the environment and other product ministries, such as energy, agriculture, transport, energy, water and sanitation. ICT and waste, where economic actions are undertaken. This work showed that such policy coherence could be achieved by creating policy working groups that would be mechanisms for convening such collaborative work among ministries.

Fifththis work has shown that the importance of South-South intra-African cooperation can not be overemphasized. Through work in only 7 countries, a rationale for realizing the commitments of the second Round of NDCs and implementing substantial implementation to achieve economic benefits has been achieved for the entire continent and adopted in a statement to share in Africa. The next AMCEN in South Africa will provide a forum for the continentalization of this logic through the declaration, which must be presented to ministers for their rating. This will provide the framework for optimal implementation of CDNs across Africa, where investments will go where both socio-economic and climate benefits are maximized.

Opportunities to replicate strategies and models

Other countries, such as Nigeria, Benin, Togo, and Uganda, are already learning from the seven partner countries of the project to take advantage of their NDCs.

"One of the key lessons learned here is the synergy between state agencies for the government to take a holistic approach to tackling climate change. I also learned that all the country's leaders should take ownership of the policy, but also that priority should be given to strategic sectors that can accelerate climate and socio-economic priorities. " said Dr. Yerima Peter Tarfa, focal point of the UNFCCC and director of the Climate Change Department of the Federal Ministry of Environment of Nigeria.

According to Tsedse Mensa Kwami, Togolese youth climate actress, the meeting offers opportunities to learn models and strategies developed from the EU's LED-UNEPAfrica project, to replicate in Togo and in Africa. Other countries, in particular by mobilizing young leaders who direct climate action and create wealth. .

"Young Africans really need to be informed to be able to engage in low-impact, climate-resilient development ventures to unlock revenue opportunities and find solutions to tackle climate change. as Cameroon and other countries have shown, "he said.

"What I have seen and learned here is that low-emission development is the gateway to Africa's transformation. This echoes what we are doing in Uganda, particularly with the Buganda Kingdom's cbadava agroindustrialization initiative. What Africa LEDS has taught me is that the work we do to bring together our cbadava farmers has to be an added value by using clean energy and connecting them to markets using ICT. This will reduce treatment costs and create more income opportunities for young people in the country, "said Patrick Luganda, Ugandan expert for climate action and low-emission development.

Accra's action program on Africa LEDS

Accra Meeting Participants Section

Participants at the African LEDS Experience Sharing Meeting in Accra presented a statement: The Accra Agenda for Action on Low Emission Development Strategies (LEDS) for Africa – https://africeds.org/index.php/about-africa-leds/project-reports/item/85-the-accra-action-agenda-on-low-emissions-development-strategies-leds-for-africa

They urged African governments to create an enabling environment for the adoption of low-carbon development strategies in Africa, building on the strategic implementation of the NDC's ambitious commitments.

Actions include the call on governments and regional institutions, state and non-state actors to take advantage of low-carbon development strategies as an opportunity for business by leveraging the strategic implementation of NDCs, as demonstrated in the Africa LEDS project.

It also invites the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) to take note, at its next session, of the products and results of the project of low-emission development strategies, with the aim of influencing policies. with a view to adoption at the continental level.

UNEP was also urged to build on its existing inclusive framework for low-emission development to drive the implementation of these results for the implementation of ambitious NDCs across Africa.

Mr. Richard Munang, United Nations Regional Coordinator for Environment and Climate Change in Africa, said he was confident that the EU-UNEP LEDS for Africa project will optimally guide the implementation of NDCs across the continent:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_VH02A34T0&t=211s

UN-Environment provided technical support to the EU-UNEP-Africa LEDS project, guiding implementation at the strategic and operational levels, in collaboration with its technical partners, the Brew-Hammond Energy Center of the University of Science and Kwame Nkrumah Technology (KNUST) and the Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

[ad_2]
Source link