Africa's top climate negotiator insists on 'no backwards' in commitments
According to the chair of Africa's group of negotiators, given the threat of global warming and progress made so far, there is no other choice than to continue with climate commitments, despite the United States withdrawing from a key international agreement.
The Trump administration withdrew for the second year in a row from the historic Paris climate agreement and also backed out of clean energy partnerships that it had signed up with countries such as South Africa.
Ali Mohamed, Kenya's Special Envoy for Climate Change, said that "there is not a reverse gear in this matter of climate changes", as the world prepares for the next round in the global climate talks in Brazil, COP30.
The rest of the world must ensure that we maintain our commitments to global cooperation and that we do not regress.
Mohamed stated that the private sector had already made significant investments which have made clean sources of energy cheaper than non-renewable ones. It is therefore imperative that economies stay on the path to adaptation and mitigation.
He said, "politics aside, the private sector does its part." "The cost for renewable energy is plummeting, and it will beat the other costs."
Climate change skeptics will eventually have to change their position, Mohamed said, as the impacts of climate change are felt in both developed and developing countries.
He said that when the problems come, such as heat waves, fires, floods and sea level rises, they affect us all in the same manner.
"Science will prevail and there will hopefully be some reconsideration when the time is right."
He said that Africa would continue to work on securing its priorities in climate finance by leaning on nations like France, which is still working with the continent regarding climate issues.
He said that the continent wanted to secure sufficient financing to develop renewable energy sources, provide jobs for its young population, and push for a more fair international financial system in order to reduce its debt load.
In July, African environment ministers are expected to meet in Nairobi to adopt a position common ahead of COP30. They will also focus on ensuring that the financial commitments made by richer countries have been met.
He said: "I can't say we will change our (negotiation strategy) because the challenges, and the priorities for addressing those challenges, haven’t changed despite the significant changes in the world politics." Reporting by Duncan Miriri, editing by Karin Strohecker and Simon Jessop; Toby Chopra.
(source: Reuters)
