Technical Session of AMCEN pre-COP 15 Meeting

1. Technical Session of AMCEN pre-COP 15 Meeting Peter Acquah (PhD) AMCEN Secretary Regional Office for Africa UNEP

2. Technical Session of AMCEN pre-COP15 • The technical session of AMCEN Pre-COP15 is serving as the second meeting of the African high-level expert panel on climate change. • This meeting is also serving partially as a preparatory meeting for the second extraordinary meeting of AMCEN on climate change ----Copenhagen, 15 Dec.

3. Sponsors of Technical Session of AMCEN pre-COP 15 AMCEN GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGES FINANCIAL SUPPORT FROM • Denmark through UNEP • DfiD through UNECA (ACPC) • UNEP and UNECA

4. COMMON NEGOTIATING POSITION AFRICA HAS A DOCUMENTED COMMON NEGOTIATING POSITION

5. Objectives of Technical Session of AMCEN pre-COP15 • To update the African common negotiating position; • To deliberate on the framework of African climate change programmes and its associated frameworks of subregional climate change programmes; and • To deepen the understanding of African experts on the issues being negotiated in connection with the international climate change regime beyond 2012

6. Expected Products • Updated African Common Negotiating Position. • Key Messages • Draft Comprehensive framework of African Climate Change Programmes. • Draft framework of subregional climate change programmes (Eastern and Central Africa) • African High Level Expert Panel on Climate Change Statement on combating the adverse effects of climate change in Africa. • Report of the second meeting of the African High Level Expert Panel on Climate Change

7. BREAK-OUT SESSIONS • AFRICAN NEGOTIATORS GROUP (Gp. 1) – Closed Session • Updated African Common Negotiating Position. • Key Messages • FRAMEWORK ROGRAMMES GROUP (Gp.2) –Open Session • Draft comprehensive framework of African climate change programmes • Draft framework of subregional climate change programmes • Recommendations on implementation of cc programmes • POLICY RELATED GROUP (Gp. 3) – Open Session • Draft Experts Statement on combating the adverse effects of climate change in Africa • Political Messages • Post Copenhagen 2009 related recommendations • Participants to indicate group (1 or 2) of preference.

8. Historical Setting (Aspects) Pre-Bali • AMCEN’s work in the Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) since its inception in 1985. • AMCEN and UNEP organized meeting for African Group of Negotiators in Naivasha, Kenya, 2006 – First well documented Africa’s common negotiating position. • Naivasha to Abuja (2007) to Algeria (2008) to Nairobi (2009) to Addis Ababa in October 2009 for the pre-COP15.

9. Twelfth Session of AMCEN Decision 2 on climate change • Ministerial Policy Dialogue – President of AMCEN Summary included specific suggestions on elements for the process of developing a common position. • Decision 2 on climate change: • Africa’s preparations for developing a common negotiating position on a comprehensive international climate change regime beyond 2012; • Comprehensive framework of African climate change programmes.

10. 12th Session Ministerial Policy Dialogue(Some specific suggestions made) • Shared vision key elements – sustainable development; poverty reduction; MDGs attainment; increased support for capacity building, financing and technology development and transfer for adaptation and mitigation in Africa; • Emission targets for developed countries(2020) – 25 to 40 % reductions below 1990 levels and by 2050 by between 80 and 95 % below those levels (achieving 450 ppm of carbon dioxide equivalent in the atmosphere). • Developing countries will respond by deviating from “business-as-usual” baseline emissions enabled and supported by finance, technology and capacity –building from developed countries, in a measurable, reportable and verifiable manner;

11. Ministerial Policy Dialogue(Some specific suggestions made) • Adaptation in Africa must be given higher priority in order to balance it with mitigation on the international agenda; • Adaptation financing should be significant, new and additional; • Carbon markets, and the CDM in particular, are key and should be supplemented by financial flows from private and public sectors; • Skewed distribution of CDM projects at the international level should be rectified urgently; • All stakeholders should be involved in climate strategies at all levels.

12. Post Special Session of AMCEN on Climate Change • Nairobi Declaration on the African Process for Combating Climate Change. • Update of the African Common Position (African Climate Platform to Copenhagen). • Decision on the African Process for combating climate change. • Conceptual framework for African climate change programmes. • AU Summit in Sirte, Libya’s endorsement • Subregional Consultative meetings • Legal and Gender networks for the African Negotiators • AMCEN pre-COP15 in Addis

13. The Road to Copenhagen-Unity of Purpose for Africa Three levels of engagement characterized by sense of togetherness – Unity of purpose. • Conference of African Heads of State on Climate Change - Ethiopia • African Ministerial Conference on the Environment – South Africa • African Group of Negotiators - Algeria

14. Ongoing Negotiations • “Tone has become adversarial” • “ A maze of positions’. • The disclosure by the EU that it had decided over a year ago to replace the Kyoto Protocol with a new Agreement has created major consternation among G77 and China. • Urgent steps required to restore trust in Barcelona. • “ A successful outcome from Copenhagen will largely hinge on the world’s political leaders”

15. Ongoing Negotiations • It is the collective responsibility of African negotiators and indeed all African experts, civil society organizations, etc. to lobby and also help keep the continent’s political leaders well informed to enable them engage more effectively in Copenhagen in December 2009. • African experts strongly recommended in August 2009 that the Conference of the African Heads of State and Governments on Climate Change ought to be expanded to include all African countries.

16. Conclusions • Africa is under very huge threat from climate change and yet it is unclear where the current negotiations are leading to even at this stage. • “Africa’s common voice should be much stronger and should go far beyond the claim for compensation for the region since it is the very survival of the people of this continent which is at stake”.

17. Thank you for your attention