ACPC makes the case for concerted, coordinated action on climate change in Africa
ECA Press Release No. 17/2011
Addis Ababa, 09 March 2011 (ECA) - The Coordinator of the African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC), Mr. Youba Sokona today said that the newly established centre for climate change policy formulation in Africa would foster Africa’s response to the problems in a way no individual nation could possibly do.
Addressing a plenary session of the 2011 Africa-Adapt Climate Change Symposium which opened in Addis Ababa this morning, Mr. Sokona said that impacts of climate change on the continent are too severe and too multi-facetted to be tackled by national institutions alone, calling for a regional strategy that brings together the common efforts and aspirations of the countries in the region.
The ACPC Coordinator defined climate change as one of the key development challenges of our generation, especially because Africa as a whole is lagging behind on each of the eight MDGs.
“The challenge is further compounded by adverse impacts and the grave long-term risk that climate change poses” requiring what he called “enduring efforts and adequate resources”, to address these challenges, according to reports received at the Information and Communications Service of ECA.
Although his keynote address was on “linking national and international policy to practices” on climate change issues, he took the opportunity to present the ACPC activities and the centre’s work programme.
He said that the goal of ACPC is to foster the process of making development more sustainable and managing associated climate risks, for the benefit of the majority of Africans, through initiation of activities that inform decision making at various levels on how achieve this.
Participants welcomed the establishment of ACPC and expressed the desire to see it make a difference across the Continent by helping to frame knowledge-based policy on climate change.
Mr. Sokona assured one questioner that the ACPC would focus on seeking solutions to real African issues and went on to allay his fears about using the Centre to push what he referred to as “an externally-driven climate change agenda” in Africa.
Pointing to the African ownership of ACPC mandate and programme, Sokona said that all the details of ACPC’s work programme would be identified by the centre’s stakeholders at various levels. The Regional Economic Communities and ECA’s Sub Regional Offices would play a crucial role in this process.
Issued by:
ECA Information and Communication Service P.O. Box 3001
Addis Ababa Ethiopia
Tel: 251 11 5445098 Fax: +251-11-551 03 65 E-mail: ecainfo@uneca.org Web: www.uneca.org
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