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November 28, 2018 – TThe United Nations Environment Program released this week its annual report on emissions spreads. The report shows that the world's initial ambition level needs to be tripled to stay warmer by 2 ° C and to be multiplied by about five for the 1.5 ° C scenario. Continuing current trends will probably cause a global warming of about 3.2 ° C by the end of the century, then a continuous increase in temperature.
In the same vein, about two months ago, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the latest scientific report on the state of change. climate, which shows that the world is moving 1.5℃ warming sooner than expected. A 1.5℃ The warming scenario is the threshold set by the Paris Agreement as the best insurance against the adverse effects of climate change, which should condemn Africa. Of these, one of the most important is the catastrophic contraction of 75% of economic productivity in developing countries, most of which is in Africa.
This latest science sends an unequivocal message about the urgent need to intensify actions around the world.
Written on the wall
Africa can not afford to act idle and only action can reverse the effects of the climate impact that many are already feeling on the continent. So we need everyone on the bridge, with non-state climate action quickly gaining ground in the world, like a gold mine for business opportunities that develop economies all by fighting climate change. Africa can not be left behind. As the African proverb says that "the wood is already burned, it is not difficult to do it," the non-state climate action proved that it was making its way into the world. Africa has demonstrated a great ability to build on this lucrative field. What we need now are strategic-level economic alignments that will quickly turn this paradigm into a forest fire across the continent.
Practical measures for climate action in Africa?
Non-state climate action in Africa should be conceived as a catalyst for opportunities for businesses to address the priority socio-economic issues that are coming to this continent. The heart of the adversity that Africa faces is economic. Economic productivity on the continent is up 20 times less than developed regions that compete with Africa in global and regional markets. This is mainly due to the lack of value added to commodities for which the region has a comparative advantage.
With this, manufacturing has stagnated, representing a average of only 10% This unfavorable scenario is amplified by the fact that, as the youngest continent in which youth unemployment is rising, Africa must create no less than one million jobs per month. It is also an opportunity for non-state climate action to provide solutions and thereby create demand from countries and the continent for their move upmarket. For example, Nigerian green bond products amount to about $ 628 million and are invested in the decentralization of clean energy, a climate action, but a strategic one to enhance value-added in the cassava value chain, to which Nigeria has the global comparative advantage as a leading producer, could see the country gain an extra 255 billion naira (701 million dollars) and save up to $ 3.5 billion of its foreign exchange reserves currently devoted to the import of wheat by maximizing the cassava bread. It's in addition to creating up 3 million jobs along the cassava value chain and supply.
Similar targeting in the continental agricultural value chain will enable the continent to convert current losses annually into $ 83 billion worth of income, employment and food security opportunities. This is how the million jobs that Africa badly needs will be created and the climate action of non-governmental action can be the driving force. This represents billions of dollars in long-term incentives for action against climate change by states.
Non-State actions will remain inaccessible to the continent unless practical implementation is encouraged. The role of politics can not be overstated. Implementation requires non-state actors from various sectors to disengage from their activities in sectoral silos in order to put in place collaborative actions offering effective solutions. The harmonization of policy implementation is a key trigger. Policies from different sectors need to be implemented in a coherent and synchronized way, to enable non-state actors at the operational level to harmonize their operations in the same way and to propose effective solutions.
Kenya is already demonstrating the strength of these complementary policy actions to catalyze operational collaboration among non-state actors that delivers compelling solutions. The convergence of finance, clean energy and ICT policies has enabled non-state actors in telecommunications and clean energy to work together and create a business – M-kopa this leads to climate actions simultaneously with the socio-economic needs of bridging the energy gap.
To reinforce this harmonization of policies, the UN-Environment is helping African countries set up a working group on policy harmonization bringing together policy makers from all ministries, including those from the environment. , finance, energy and agriculture, so that they collaborate in the implementation of the NDCs of the countries concerned. In this way, align non-state actors in these sectors in the same way to work collaboratively to exploit business opportunities in the fields of energy, agriculture and finance, among others.
Take advantage of Africa's sovereign capital, its people, and especially its population of more than 200 million young people, as well as skills, talents, energy, passion and spirit enterprise, as a key element to significantly strengthen climate-related non-governmental actions. Rather than providing fiscal resources to increase non-state actions. The young population of 200 million is an important non-state actor for climate action that has been neglected over the years. The time has come to engage them. And the only bonus for hiring them is their skills. Not always initial funding. And it is a key strategy by which the key non-state pressure group, namely African youth, will be engaged to intensify climate action.
The response of Africa and the world to climate change will depend heavily on the actions of non-state actors. Such ambitious actions by non-state actors are urgently needed in our times. The three underlined entry points offer strategic level alignments to rapidly consolidate non-state actions on the continent.
For more information, contact:
Richard Munang is UN's Climate Change Coordinator for Africa,
Mohamed Atani, Chief of Communication and Outreach, UN Office for the Environment, for Africa – Tel: +254 (0) 727531253.
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