NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) - As Africa prepares for the crucial climate change conference later in the year, President Hakainde Hichilema has assured his Kenyan counterpart, who is also Coordinator of the Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC), William Ruto, of Zambia’s unwavering support for Africa’s climate aspirations at COP28. Speaking during a virtual CAHOSCC meeting on the Africa Climate Summit (ACS) that was co-hosted by President Ruto, in collaboration with His Excellency Mr. Mousa Faki Mahamat, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), President Hichilema said, “Zambia, in its capacity as Chair of the African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change (AGN), will continue to work closely with you in pursuit of Africa’s climate and development aspirations.” The Africa Climate Summit is set to be held in Nairobi, Kenya from 4th to 6th September 2023 while the 28th session of the Conference of Parties (COP28) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is scheduled for 30th November to 12th December 2023 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Writing on his Facebook page shortly after the meeting, President Hichilema congratulated President Ruto for the idea to host the Africa Climate Summit and assured him of Zambia’s support in achieving the summit's intended objectives. President Hichilema emphasized the importance for Africa to clearly and specifically identify areas that need resolution in order to ensure a unified approach towards making a meaningful impact on the challenges posed by climate change. The Zambian President further encouraged unity of purpose and speaking with one voice saying, “Africa should maintain coordination, consistency and rationality throughout the climate change debate and avoid polarisation.” Some recent report statistics on climate ambition show that Africa is already sacrificing a lot of its resources towards the fight against climate change as captured in African countries’ highly ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). This is despite the continent’s both historic and current negligible contribution to climate causing emissions. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which provides the best available science, Africa is the least contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions with less than 4% of global emissions and yet the most adversely impacted region. Despite this well noted imbalance, statistics show that Africa is demonstrating its commitment to combating climate change, through the submission of highly ambitious NDCs and spending up to 9% of their GDPs in addressing climate change. However, the full ambition of African countries’ NDCs cannot be realised without support from the international community, hence the call for the global north to continue taking the lead in the climate action agenda by not only cutting their emissions but also supporting developing countries with finances and other means of implementation as espoused in the Paris Agreement. In highlighting the importance of financial support from the global north, President Hichilema also used the meeting to highlight and acknowledge the continent's strong momentum in pursuing the green investment agenda as well as noting the importance of private sector investments.…

NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) - Global forestry experts sitting in Nairobi for a week long workshop have termed climate change as one of the major environmental challenges Africa is facing at the moment, and this calls for innovative solutions to tackle. According to Dr Joshua Cheboiwo, Chief Research Officer, Director at the Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI), there is growing evidence that climate change is impacting on forests and forest ecosystems in Africa, and therefore on the livelihoods of forest dependent communities as well as on national economic activities that depend on forest and tree products and services. "There is thus need for innovative solutions for climate and ecosystem smart forest management" Dr Cheboiwo said at a regional workshop organised by African Forest Forum (AFF). Cheboiwo was speaking at a workshop taking place in Nairobi-Kenya under the theme 'Forest and Tree-based ecosystems services for socio-ecological resilence to climate change in Africa' Experts at the workshop emphasised on the role of ecosystem services, as a concrete, innovative, sustainable solution that can strengthen Africa’s climate efforts. ecosystem services procedure and the supporting business model to enable its effective roll out as a market-based instrument. He described ecosystem services as benefits that people obtain from nature as he presented the solution to the event’s audience. He highlighted that forests have many positive effects on society, such as stable clean water supplies, productive soil, and carbon sequestration. According to AFF executive secretary , Professor Godwin Kowero, the population of Africa expected to rise to 2.5 billion by 2050 and a projected demand for industrial wood estimated to grow from about 75 million m3/per year in 2020 to 250 million m3 per year by 2030 . Consequently the strain on the African forests and trees outside forests has to be carefully managed, especially in the context of increasing deforestation and forest degradation on the continent that are increasingly been made worse by adverse effects of climate change. "These resources consist of a myriad of different tree species, good for timber and other building materials, as well as abundance of non-timber forest products (NTFPs), thus offering the resources the capacity to serve the people on the continent with many products to meet their many and varied demands " Prof Kowero said . "One good way such demands could be met is largely through adding value on the resources through processing. This forward linkage to primary forest production is critical to Africa’s development, and especially so when the population is rising rapidly, urbanization is accelerating very rapidly," he added . According to experts , ecosystem services demonstrate, and promote the beneficial effects of responsible forest management practices. "There is need to increase commercial value for people that sustainably manage forests and take steps to conserve forest ecosystem," says Ben Chikamai, Executive Secretary at Network for Natural Gums and Resins in Africa ,NGARA, Kenya . Experts from different countries presented the business case for ecosystem services in some African countries illustrating how the innovation has been used to…

We, the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) make this statement on behalf of 41 African Networks and organizations representing up to 200 million Africans, including Non-Government Organizations, small-scale farmers, pastoralists, fisher folks, indigenous peoples, women, and youth groups, agroecological entrepreneurs, environmentalists, and consumer groups. In reference to paragraph7 of the Conference of Parties draft Decision -/CP.27 Joint work on implementation of climate action on agriculture and food security, inviting parties and observers to submit views on future topics for consideration by the subsidiary bodies at their fifty-eighth session, AFSA acknowledges and commends party and observer submissions to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change( UNFCCC) proposing agroecology as one of the future topics for agriculture and food security workshops within the UNFCCC negotiations on agriculture and food security. We strongly call upon parties at the 58thSubsidiary Bodies (SBs) meeting to adopt agroecology as a climate adaptation and mitigation measure, which promotes sustainable food systems and enhances the resilience of agrarian communities, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, improves food security and nutrition.AFSA further calls on parties and agriculture negotiators to adopt agroecology as a standalone future topic related to agriculture and food security. We anchor our call on the following reasons. The recently released Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report specifically notes with high confidence that “Human-caused climate change is already affecting many weather and climate extremes in every region across the globe. This has led to widespread adverse impacts and related losses and damage to nature and people. Vulnerable communities that have historically contributed the least to climate change are disproportionately affected” (IPCC AR6 SYR). We are aware that within the agriculture and food security sector, negative human actions have been exacerbated by the aggressive push for the adoption of an industrial model of agriculture and food production, which involves intensive use of chemical inputs, including fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides which are polluting farmlands, waterways, and compromising biodiversity and ecosystem health in general. The resource-intensive industrial agriculture model has also promoted monocrops in place of farming with diversity and deprived communities of a wide range of ecosystem services. Conversely, agroecology is a sustainable and holistic approach to agriculture that can help address the challenges posed by climate change. Agroecology prioritizes the needs of small-scale farmers, indigenous peoples, pastoralists, youth, and women, often marginalized in conventional agriculture systems. Agroecology fosters social and economic equity, which is essential for resilience in vulnerable communities. Agroecological practices promote using natural and organic inputs, reducing the reliance on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, which release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Farmers can therefore reduce their dependence on fossil fuels and synthetic inputs. Agroecological practices mimic natural ecosystems, thus allowing agricultural landscapes to capture and sequester more carbon than conventional monocultural landscapes. Agroecology elements such as circular and solidarity economy, human and social values, responsible governance, and cultural and food traditions address complex challenges within the food systems, such as high post-harvest losses and high carbon footprint for food. AFSA’s position is aligned with…

The Subsidiary Bodies (SBs) are an integral part of the Bonn Climate Change Conference. They consist of two bodies: the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) and the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA). These bodies support the work of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The SBs take place every year, in many cases during the month of June, and they always happen at the World Conference Centre in Bonn, Germany. Whatever is passed during the Bonn conference, forms the agenda for the next Conference of Parties (COP), usually held between the months of November and December, and it rotates every year from one part of the world to another. Here are five facts you need to know: The SBs meet twice a year: during the Bonn Climate Change Conference and COP They discuss and negotiate various aspects of climate change mitigation, adaptation, finance, capacity-building, technology transfer, and now, loss and damage. The meetings typically take place in June and November/December. The SBs work separately, but have joint agendas as they cooperate on cross-cutting issues within the areas of competence of both bodies. The SBI focuses on the implementation of climate policies and actions Its meetings include discussions on mitigation, adaptation, reporting and review processes, as well as on financial mechanisms and capacity-building initiatives. The SBI meeting plays a crucial role in enhancing transparency and accountability in the global climate change response. The SBSTA provides scientific and technological advice for implementing the Paris Agreement and other climate policy processes It assesses the latest scientific findings, technological advancements and transfer, as well as methodologies and guidelines relevant to climate change mitigation and adaptation. It also fosters inter-institutional collaboration in the field of research and systematic observation of the climate system. The SBs play a vital role in preparing the agenda and decisions for the annual Conference of the Parties (COP) COP is the highest decision-making body under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The SBs provide technical expertise and recommendations that shape the negotiations and outcomes of COP. The SBs also inform the CMA (Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement) and the CMP (Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol). The CMA oversees the implementation of the Paris Agreement and takes decisions to promote its effective implementation, whereas the CMP does this for the Kyoto Protocol. The Bonn Climate Change Conference serves as a platform to advance the global climate agenda It is a meeting point for governments, civil society organizations, scientists, and other stakeholders to come together. The Conference provides opportunities for dialogue, knowledge sharing, capacity-building and consensus-building among parties involved in the UNFCCC process.