African Leaders discuss their priorities ahead of UN Climate Change Conference

South African protest for climate change action in Cape Town, South Africa. Photo: Nardus Engelbrecht/AP Newsroom

The annual Climate Change and Development in Africa Conference began Monday in Windhoek, Namibia, an organisation spokesperson announced. The purpose of the meeting is to explore methods by which Africa can efficiently implement clean energy. 

The conference is an opportunity for African leaders on climate change, including government officials, non-governmental organisations, and climate researchers, to create a united front for future African clean energy policy discussions. This week is especially important, as  it is the last opportunity for Pan-African discussion before the global Conference of COP27 in Nov., which will take place in Egypt on Nov. 6. 

The delegates of the COP27, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, will have the power to grant funds, create new plans, and set expectations regarding climate change for the next decade.

“Two main subjects will be discussed by the Climate Change and Development Conference,” said James Murombedzi, the Africa Climate Change Centre member. The first order of discussion will be the method by which “African countries can finance more renewable power, as well as extreme weather adaptation technology.” 

These are crucial topics, given Africa’s recent struggles with higher energy prices, along with an increase in food shortages. Secondly, the discussion will focus around how to move towards clean energy without hurting Africa’s efforts to alleviate poverty.

Solar panels work on a street in Lagos, Nigeria. Photo: Sunday Alamba/AP Newsroom

Duncan Omwamwi, a Kenyan activist, spoke up about Africa’s climate change policy: “4 percent [of fossil fuel emissions] is emitted by the Global South. Africa at our position, with only 4 percent, we are not able to make any great contribution to these emissions, so we are demanding for the Global North to pay for the loss and damage. We need the Global North to pay for the damages they are causing.” Omwamwi also noted the rising food shortages around the continent and said that climate change is a large contributor to this growing crisis. At this year's conference, African leaders have a chance to help and mitigate these problems.

Mithika Mwenda, one of the conference’s co-conveners and a member of the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance, agreed with Omwamwi, “adaptation and, increasingly, loss and damage are the main climate action priorities for the continent.”

Since 2002, Africa has attracted only 2 percent  of the world’s energy investment and is responsible for only about 3% of the world’s emissions, despite having 17 percent  of the global population. However, according to experts, they are absorbing the brunt of climate change’s impact. 

This conference, along with the UN-wide one in November, will be essential to the future of the continent.