African Ministerial Conference on Environment (AMCEN) at COP19/CMP9

17 November 2013. Warsaw, Poland. The Conference of African Ministers on Environment was held in preparation for the 19th Conference of the Parties (COP19) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 9th Session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP9).

The conference discussed issues related to the current negotiation position of Africa. It took stock of the outcomes of at least two preparatory events that preceded COP19 – the Conference of African Environment Ministers which met in Gaborone, Botswana and the Third Annual Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA III). Both events were held in October, a month before COP19.

• Calls for the provision of adequate means of implementation, including finance, technology transfer and capacity-building, to enable Africa to address its adaptation needs in particular, has been one of the staples on Africa’s menu at virtually every COP for the last decade.
• So too have been calls on developed country parties to urgently scale up support for the implementation of adaptation measures and national adaptation plans, particularly through the Cancun Adaptation Framework and the Nairobi Work Programme.
• In Warsaw, Africa also wants developed countries to support and expedite work to understand, reduce and compensate for loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change, including its impacts on agriculture. Furthermore, they have called for a well structured standing body with technical and financial facility, clear functions, relevant national points and a trust fund to address loss and damage.

Most of these issues were extensively dealt with at CCDA III, says Tom Owiyo, one of ECA’s scientists who explains that the conference provided a platform to play back critical issues in the negotiations to seek contribution from a larger audience from across Africa, as well as fine-tune science-informed positions on a number of negotiation tracks.

PARTICIPANTS: African Ministers, AU Commission, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), Ministers of AU Member States, Civil Society Organizations, Development Partners, Regional Institutions, and National Experts, among others. Only two heads of states from Africa are attending: President Mulatu Teshhome of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, the President of the United Republic of Tanzania.

18 November 2013. Interview with Kurt Lonsway of the African Development Bank. Below is an older interview with Interview with Kurt Lonsway of AFDB on 28/08/2012.

Interview with Kurt Lonsway - "Taking Stock of Bank Activities in Energy, Environment and Climate Change" - African Development Bank

Around one thousand people gathered in central Warsaw on Saturday to call on world leaders to step up action on climate change. Warsaw hosts the UN climate conference this week. Amid a heavy police presence, 3000 people walked from the Palace of Culture in the centre of the city to the National Stadium, where the UN conference is taking place.

See further: 

• programme AMCEM conference 17/11/2013
• Africa green Media 18/11/2013 Good preparations by African negotiators a plus

Related:

Whitfield, S. (2013) Uncertainty, ignorance and ambiguity in crop modelling for African agricultural adaptation.Climatic Change
Okali, C. and Naess, L.O. (2013) Making Sense of Gender, Climate Change and Agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa Working Paper 57