With less than a month before the annual climate change conference slated for Morocco, African Climate Experts are expected to meet in Addis Ababa Ethiopia from 18-20 October, to brainstorm what next for Africa after the Paris Agreement.

Convened under the auspices of the Climate for Development in Africa (ClimDev-Africa) Programme, the Sixth Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA–VI), is set to discuss, in the African context, nuances, challenges and opportunities of implementing the Paris Agreement.

According to James Murombedzi, Officer –in-Charge at the Africa Climate Policy Centre, “The Paris Agreement heralds bold steps towards decarbonizing the global economy and reducing dependency on fossil fuels.”

But of utter most importance for Africa is to understand the implications of the Paris Agreement especially with regards to means of implementation ( Technology transfer and finance), an issue that has never escaped the minds of the African Group of Negotiators, and this is a point that Murombedzi emphasizes for the stakeholders at the upcoming conference.

“However, there are contentious nuances of the agreement that must be unpacked in the context of Africa’s development priorities, particularly in regard to the means of implementation which were binding provisions of the Kyoto Protocol and currently only non-binding decisions in the Paris Agreement,” said Murombedzi, pointing out the need for Africa not to lose focus on what matters in the implementation stage of the Agreement.

The Paris Agreement on climate change, set to come into effect before the end of the year,  aims to limit the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue more ambitious efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels in this century.

The basis of the Paris Agreement is the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) submitted by all parties in the lead up to COP21 as their national contributions to limiting global greenhouse gas emissions. INDCs became Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) subsequent to COP21.

Implementation of the Agreement has significant implications for Africa as the continent that will be most severely impacted by the adverse impacts of weather variability and climate change. The continent is already experiencing climate-induced impacts, such as frequent and prolonged droughts and floods, as well as environmental degradation that make livelihoods difficult for rural and urban communities. Increasing migration on the continent is both triggered and amplified by climate change.

Therefore, under the main theme: “The Paris Agreement on climate change: What next for Africa?” CCDA VI is about a critical and contextual analysis of what is at stake for Africa and what the Agreement offers, prior to COP22, in order to contribute to the strategic orientation for African countries in moving forward with the implementation of the Agreement.

And to better articulate the specific objectives and capture the implications of implementing the Paris Agreement for inclusive and sustainable development in Africa, the Conference will be organized under the following sub-themes: Unpacking the Paris Agreement and emerging challenges and opportunities for Africa; Integration of the Paris Agreement into Africa’s development agenda and other global governance frameworks; Linking African initiatives to the implementation of the Paris Agreement; and Emerging challenges from climate change.

CCDA-VI is expected to be attended by policymakers and researchers, young people, civil society organizations, negotiators and the private sector, CCDA-VI will facilitate and enrich the sharing of lessons, key research findings, outreach and policy uptake, as well as stimulate investments.

With less than a month before the annual climate change conference slated for Morocco, African Climate Experts are expected to meet in Addis Ababa Ethiopia from 18-20 October, to brainstorm what next for Africa after the Paris Agreement.

Convened under the auspices of the Climate for Development in Africa (ClimDev-Africa) Programme, the Sixth Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA–VI), is set to discuss, in the African context, nuances, challenges and opportunities of implementing the Paris Agreement.

According to James Murombedzi, Officer –in-Charge at the Africa Climate Policy Centre, “The Paris Agreement heralds bold steps towards decarbonizing the global economy and reducing dependency on fossil fuels.”

But of utter most importance for Africa is to understand the implications of the Paris Agreement especially with regards to means of implementation ( Technology transfer and finance), an issue that has never escaped the minds of the African Group of Negotiators, and this is a point that Murombedzi emphasizes for the stakeholders at the upcoming conference.

“However, there are contentious nuances of the agreement that must be unpacked in the context of Africa’s development priorities, particularly in regard to the means of implementation which were binding provisions of the Kyoto Protocol and currently only non-binding decisions in the Paris Agreement,” said Murombedzi, pointing out the need for Africa not to lose focus on what matters in the implementation stage of the Agreement.

The Paris Agreement on climate change, set to come into effect before the end of the year,  aims to limit the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue more ambitious efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels in this century.

The basis of the Paris Agreement is the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) submitted by all parties in the lead up to COP21 as their national contributions to limiting global greenhouse gas emissions. INDCs became Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) subsequent to COP21.

Implementation of the Agreement has significant implications for Africa as the continent that will be most severely impacted by the adverse impacts of weather variability and climate change. The continent is already experiencing climate-induced impacts, such as frequent and prolonged droughts and floods, as well as environmental degradation that make livelihoods difficult for rural and urban communities. Increasing migration on the continent is both triggered and amplified by climate change.

Therefore, under the main theme: “The Paris Agreement on climate change: What next for Africa?” CCDA VI is about a critical and contextual analysis of what is at stake for Africa and what the Agreement offers, prior to COP22, in order to contribute to the strategic orientation for African countries in moving forward with the implementation of the Agreement.

And to better articulate the specific objectives and capture the implications of implementing the Paris Agreement for inclusive and sustainable development in Africa, the Conference will be organized under the following sub-themes: Unpacking the Paris Agreement and emerging challenges and opportunities for Africa; Integration of the Paris Agreement into Africa’s development agenda and other global governance frameworks; Linking African initiatives to the implementation of the Paris Agreement; and Emerging challenges from climate change.

CCDA-VI is expected to be attended by policymakers and researchers, young people, civil society organizations, negotiators and the private sector, CCDA-VI will facilitate and enrich the sharing of lessons, key research findings, outreach and policy uptake, as well as stimulate investments.

KIGALI, Rwanda (PAMACC News) – Before the year 1990 most of the refrigeration and air conditioning equipments operated using some gas called chlorofluorocarbon also known as CFC. This is an organic compound that contains only carbon, chlorine, and fluorine, produced as volatile derivative of methane, ethane, and propane. Unfortunately, the CFC was found to be a lethal greenhouse gas that mainly depleted the ozone layer.

With the commitment of the world to reduce emission of greenhouse gases (compounds that are able to trap heat in the atmosphere), because they make the earth much warmer than naturally expected, leading to climate change, the world agreed to phase out CFC, and instead adopted use Hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) as a safer option.

However, with more studies, it has become clear that HFCs are not as safe to the environment as earlier thought.

“HFCs were created to replace HCFCs (hydrochlorofluorocarbons), which in turn replaced CFCs, after it was discovered that the gases were putting a hole in the ozone layer.  But we didn’t realise that in HFCs we had created another thing that is even more devastating than Carbon dioxide,” said Gabi Drinkwater, a Senior Policy expert working for Christian Aid.

And now, scientists are in the process of replacing the HFCs with a new gas formula known as hydrocarbons (HC).

The HC is an elementary compound of hydrogen and carbon which occurs naturally and is found in large concentrations in crude oil. According to experts, non-toxic hydrocarbons are an eco -friendly alternative to the CFC,HCFC and HFC fluorocarbon ozone damaging elements.

It is based on this knowledge that representatives of different states from all over the world are meeting in Kigali Rwanda, to draw a roadmap on how people are going to shift from use of HFC based refrigeration and air conditioning systems to HC based systems.

This calls for countries and companies that have invested so much in production of HFCs to freeze their production. And this has leads to a huge debate related economics of investment. The other argument is about where the existing gadgets will be dumped, and at whose cost.

By the end of the week on October 15, the negotiators will have come up with the way forward to determine when the phase-out should commence, where the funding will come from, and how the money will be invested in the process.

But so far, some countries have already started producing refrigerators that use HC. In Africa for example, Palfridge Ltd, a fridge manufacturing company in Southern Africa has already switched to production of fridges that use HC.

“Apart from being environment friendly, the HC based fridges are energy efficient, produce less heat, and the compressors do not produce much noise,” said Tumani Chidyamarambe, an engineer working for Paldridge in Swaziland.

Most African states are hopeful that developed countries will help them switch before 2025.

KIGALI, Rwanda (PAMACC News) – Before the year 1990 most of the refrigeration and air conditioning equipments operated using some gas called chlorofluorocarbon also known as CFC. This is an organic compound that contains only carbon, chlorine, and fluorine, produced as volatile derivative of methane, ethane, and propane. Unfortunately, the CFC was found to be a lethal greenhouse gas that mainly depleted the ozone layer.

With the commitment of the world to reduce emission of greenhouse gases (compounds that are able to trap heat in the atmosphere), because they make the earth much warmer than naturally expected, leading to climate change, the world agreed to phase out CFC, and instead adopted use Hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) as a safer option.

However, with more studies, it has become clear that HFCs are not as safe to the environment as earlier thought.

“HFCs were created to replace HCFCs (hydrochlorofluorocarbons), which in turn replaced CFCs, after it was discovered that the gases were putting a hole in the ozone layer.  But we didn’t realise that in HFCs we had created another thing that is even more devastating than Carbon dioxide,” said Gabi Drinkwater, a Senior Policy expert working for Christian Aid.

And now, scientists are in the process of replacing the HFCs with a new gas formula known as hydrocarbons (HC).

The HC is an elementary compound of hydrogen and carbon which occurs naturally and is found in large concentrations in crude oil. According to experts, non-toxic hydrocarbons are an eco -friendly alternative to the CFC,HCFC and HFC fluorocarbon ozone damaging elements.

It is based on this knowledge that representatives of different states from all over the world are meeting in Kigali Rwanda, to draw a roadmap on how people are going to shift from use of HFC based refrigeration and air conditioning systems to HC based systems.

This calls for countries and companies that have invested so much in production of HFCs to freeze their production. And this has leads to a huge debate related economics of investment. The other argument is about where the existing gadgets will be dumped, and at whose cost.

By the end of the week on October 15, the negotiators will have come up with the way forward to determine when the phase-out should commence, where the funding will come from, and how the money will be invested in the process.

But so far, some countries have already started producing refrigerators that use HC. In Africa for example, Palfridge Ltd, a fridge manufacturing company in Southern Africa has already switched to production of fridges that use HC.

“Apart from being environment friendly, the HC based fridges are energy efficient, produce less heat, and the compressors do not produce much noise,” said Tumani Chidyamarambe, an engineer working for Paldridge in Swaziland.

Most African states are hopeful that developed countries will help them switch before 2025.