Countries discuss climate change policy priorities for Sub Saharan Africa
Climate Vulnerability Forum (CVF) meeting for Sub Saharan Africa was held on May 7 and 8 at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) here in Addis Abeba.
Policy makers from 12 countries in the continent have met to promote headline climate change policy priorities they are facing.
The meeting was organized by the FDRE Ministry of Environment and Forestry in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
“Africa reallyis the most vulnerable continent to the typesof changes broughtabout by global warming,” said Belete Terefe, Minister of Environment and Forestry in his opening speech. “Expansive tropical zones carrytremendous biodiversity risks as warm climates become hotones, and hot climates becomehotter. Impacts forAfrica’sfisheries are predicted to be particularly severeas waters warm more than anything previously observed.
River deltas and lowlying coastal land, particularly in West Africa, are alreadybeing put under huge pressure as a result of rising sea levelsas they face salt intrusion, submergence and extreme tidalflooding. Arid and semi-arid regions,too,arebecoming even more dry–Lake Chadhasactually vanishedwhile the Sahel fights with desertificationdueto increasingly long hot and dry periods, and increasingly short and erratic wet seasons.”
The meeting, which is part of a series of climate vulnerable forum workshops to be convened to June 2015 throughout the world including Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, focused on improving the response to climate change in the region.
Samuel Bwalya, Country Director for UNDP Ethiopia said that the global response to climate change efforts has “unfortunately fallen short of ourhopesand expectations. The repercussion of 20 years of in adequateaction hasadverselyaffected Africa more than any other region.”
Twelve key priorities were identified for Enhanced Climate Action at the meeting including building stronger institutions and structures supported by policies and legal frameworks, reinforcing infrastructure for renewable energy, transportation and water and boosting the involvement of the private sector.
The Climate Vulnerable Forum was established to offer a South-South cooperation platform for vulnerable countries to deal with the issues of climate change. It first convened in 2009 in the Maldives.
