Lagos eyes financial boom from climate efforts

Michael Simire in the Daily Independent (Nigeria): The Lagos State Government may be strategising towards reaping financial gains from the potentially catastrophic climate change threat. But officials hint that the bulk of the funds will go into financing climate adaptation and mitigation activities.

Apart from leveraging funds from public as well as private sources, a gathering of stakeholders suggested at the end of a three-day forum last week in the nation’s foremost business hub, that projects under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) were veritable avenues to generate direly-needed funds.

…The state was also urged to consider the adoption of the functional assessment framework approach to climate change actions as a way of facilitating the implementation of adaptation strategies. To avoid or minimise the consequences of human rights violations from climate change effects, the state was similarly charged to strengthen stakeholder consultation while taking actions to combat climate change’s impacts.

Underlining the need for a new legal regime in the country for dealing with intra-national migrations and population displacements, participants noted that such legal regime should be built upon existing human rights laws and principles.

…If the recommendations at the summit eventually see the light of day, Lagos State would adopt a participatory and multi-dimensional approach to climate change risk assessment in its development programmes and include appropriate climate change insurance mechanisms in order to hedge against the impact of climate change and also be able to decide on the right mix between mitigation and adaptation…

A neighborhood in Victoria Island, Lagos, by Eman007, under the Creative CommonsAttribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license

Climate development in Africa

Ramesh Jaura in InDepth News: Amidst persistent warnings that climate change will destroy Africa, the leaders of the world's second largest and second most populous continent have launched the 'Climate for Development in Africa Programme' and decided to set up an 'Africa Green Fund'.

The two significant steps to defend the continent come in run-up to the landmark UN climate change conference from November 29 to December 10 in Cancun, Mexico, where the African Green Fund is expected to get underway.

The Climate for Development in Africa (ClimDev-Africa) Programme has been launched by the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Union Commission (AUC) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) at a ceremony on the sidelines of the Seventh African Development Forum (ADF VII) on October 13 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

…Of 22 climate funds available worldwide, Africa has access only to a few. The carbon market has not brought much money to Africa so far. Several hundred projects in Mexico, Brazil, India and China are funded under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). There are only a handful of CDM projects in South Africa and very few others on the rest of the continent.

… Africa is not well served by existing financing mechanisms since the continent's unique problems such as high vulnerability to climate change and unique emission patterns related to agriculture and land use are never factored into the design of global funds. He called for a more appropriate financing mechanism such as the Africa Green Fund…..

A giant anthill in Zambia, shot by J nestor, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons CC0 waiver

Africa may benefit from global climate efforts

An opinion piece by Abdoulie Janneh, AllAfrica.com via New Vision (Uganda). Janneh is the executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa: …As we prepare for Copenhagen in December 2009, where measures to deal with the global climate challenge will be agreed, we must make sure that the interests of the most vulnerable and least developed countries are not forgotten.

The global effort, as a central pillar of response to climate change, offers Africa an opportunity, in terms of providing a platform for strengthening and establishing new regional and international partnerships, even in the business sector. There is plenty of room for cooperation and joint efforts.

…Over the past few years, one of the key sources for additional private investment in clean technology in developing countries is the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The protocol allows industrialised countries to make investments to reduce green house gas emissions where the impact of the investments is greatest. This is a win-win and cost-effective solution. It has helped to transfer investments and technology from developed to developing countries. It also allows entry into the international carbon market.

So far, a total of 1,450 CDM projects have been registered, resulting in the reduction of 270 million tonnes of green house gases. Most of these projects are in Asia. Very few are in Africa.

This regional disparity is one of the main weaknesses of the CDM, but also one that can and has to be corrected for African countries to meaningfully benefit from it. In addition, greater domestic capacity and institutional support in Africa are needed for the project, but the requirements are far from insurmountable. The necessary reform of the CDM, to make it administratively less burdensome, while ensuring its integrity, should facilitate this further…..

The Jukskei Rivers about 5 km downstream from its source. Photo taken by NJR ZA behind Goldfields Kennel Club about 150 meter upstream from Gillooly's Farm. Johannesburg, South Africa. Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License