Tag Archives: #ACSWeWant

Climate Change, SDGS

STATEMENT OF NAIROBI DECLARATION AT AFRICA CLIMATE SUMMIT

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September 6, 2023
Nairobi, Kenya
4.30pm EAT

Statement on the Nairobi declaration, by Fadhel Kaboub (full bio below).

As an African economist, attending the first Africa Climate Summit on African soil, I had high expectations, but unfortunately the Nairobi declaration leaves much to be desired.

I was hoping that our leaders would advance a bold, transformative, coherent and comprehensive vision on climate and development for Africa.

While external debt is a serious problem that limits our economic and monetary sovereignty and reduces the fiscal policy space to act on climate and to invest in national priorities, it is important to recognize that external debt is a symptom of much deeper structural deficiencies: food deficits, energy deficits, and low value-added manufacturing.

The economic transformation that our leaders needed to rally behind cannot ignore the importance of food sovereignty (not just food security) andagroecology, renewable energy sovereignty, and pan-Africain high value-added industrialization.

This was a missed opportunity to harmonize our climate, energy, adaptation and development strategies.

Instead, we find false solutions proposed in the Nairobi declaration like carbon markets, which simply amount to cheap pollution permits for Global North historic polluters who can pass on the cost of the permits to their customers (many of whom are in the Slobal South), displace farmers and indigenous communities, enrich speculators and middlemen, and continue polluting while offering crumbs as climate finance.

I expected our leaders to state the facts. Africa is owed a climate debt by the historic polluters. Climate reparations must be delivered in the form of debt cancelation (not debt restructuring), transfer of technology (not impoted green tech), grants (not loans) for adaptation and economic resilience, and transformation of the global trade, finance and investment architecture.

It is disappointing to see the wide ambitions gap between the official “Nairobi Declaration on Climate Change” and the “Nairobi Africa Climate People’s declaration on Climate and Development”.

The message to our leaders is very clear. African civil society is informed, organized, mobilized and united on climate and development goals. We want this inaugural Africa Climate Summit to be the starting point of engaging our leaders in a sustained pan-Africain dialogue to unite Africans from the grassroots to the top of the political hierarchy so we can go to COP meetings and other international fora with one coherent, comprehensive, uncompromising vision for just, equitable, and sustainable prosperity for all Africans.

Fadhel Kaboub is a Tunisian economist based in Nairobi, Kenya. He is an Associate Professor of economics at Denison University (Ohio, USA), and the president of the Global Institute for Sustainable Prosperity. He has recently served as Under-Secretary-General for Financing for Development at the Organisation of Southern Cooperation in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Dr. Kaboub is an expert on designing public policies to enhance monetary and economic sovereignty in the Global South, build resilience, and promote equitable and sustainable prosperity. His recent work focuses on Just Transition, Climate Finance, and transforming the global trade, finance, and investment architecture. His most recent co-authored publication is Just Transition: A Climate, Energy, and Development Vision for Africa (2023), published by an independent expert group. He has held a number of research affiliations with the Levy Economics Institute (NY), the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University (MA), the Economic Research Forum (Cairo), Power Shift Africa (Nairobi), and the Center for Strategic Studies on the Maghreb (Tunis). You can follow him on Twitter @FadhelKaboub and can reach him via email kaboubf@denison.edu

Dr. Fadhel Kaboub
Climate Change, SDGS

STATEMENT OF NAIROBI DECLARATION AT AFRICA CLIMATE SUMMIT

Leave a comment

September 6, 2023
Nairobi, Kenya
4.30pm EAT

Statement on the Nairobi declaration, by Fadhel Kaboub (full bio below).

As an African economist, attending the first Africa Climate Summit on African soil, I had high expectations, but unfortunately the Nairobi declaration leaves much to be desired.

I was hoping that our leaders would advance a bold, transformative, coherent and comprehensive vision on climate and development for Africa.

While external debt is a serious problem that limits our economic and monetary sovereignty and reduces the fiscal policy space to act on climate and to invest in national priorities, it is important to recognize that external debt is a symptom of much deeper structural deficiencies: food deficits, energy deficits, and low value-added manufacturing.

The economic transformation that our leaders needed to rally behind cannot ignore the importance of food sovereignty (not just food security) andagroecology, renewable energy sovereignty, and pan-Africain high value-added industrialization.

This was a missed opportunity to harmonize our climate, energy, adaptation and development strategies.

Instead, we find false solutions proposed in the Nairobi declaration like carbon markets, which simply amount to cheap pollution permits for Global North historic polluters who can pass on the cost of the permits to their customers (many of whom are in the Slobal South), displace farmers and indigenous communities, enrich speculators and middlemen, and continue polluting while offering crumbs as climate finance.

I expected our leaders to state the facts. Africa is owed a climate debt by the historic polluters. Climate reparations must be delivered in the form of debt cancelation (not debt restructuring), transfer of technology (not impoted green tech), grants (not loans) for adaptation and economic resilience, and transformation of the global trade, finance and investment architecture.

It is disappointing to see the wide ambitions gap between the official “Nairobi Declaration on Climate Change” and the “Nairobi Africa Climate People’s declaration on Climate and Development”.

The message to our leaders is very clear. African civil society is informed, organized, mobilized and united on climate and development goals. We want this inaugural Africa Climate Summit to be the starting point of engaging our leaders in a sustained pan-Africain dialogue to unite Africans from the grassroots to the top of the political hierarchy so we can go to COP meetings and other international fora with one coherent, comprehensive, uncompromising vision for just, equitable, and sustainable prosperity for all Africans.

Fadhel Kaboub is a Tunisian economist based in Nairobi, Kenya. He is an Associate Professor of economics at Denison University (Ohio, USA), and the president of the Global Institute for Sustainable Prosperity. He has recently served as Under-Secretary-General for Financing for Development at the Organisation of Southern Cooperation in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Dr. Kaboub is an expert on designing public policies to enhance monetary and economic sovereignty in the Global South, build resilience, and promote equitable and sustainable prosperity. His recent work focuses on Just Transition, Climate Finance, and transforming the global trade, finance, and investment architecture. His most recent co-authored publication is Just Transition: A Climate, Energy, and Development Vision for Africa (2023), published by an independent expert group. He has held a number of research affiliations with the Levy Economics Institute (NY), the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University (MA), the Economic Research Forum (Cairo), Power Shift Africa (Nairobi), and the Center for Strategic Studies on the Maghreb (Tunis). You can follow him on Twitter @FadhelKaboub and can reach him via email kaboubf@denison.edu

Dr. Fadhel Kaboub
Advocacy, Climate Change, SDGS

THE REAL CLIMATE SUMMIT PEOPLE’S DECLARATION!

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Context

From the 3rd to 6th September, 2023, we the people of the great lands across Africa, including people from social movements and civil society, trade unions, women, young people, men, people living with disabilities, media organisations, faith-based groups and many others, gathered in Nairobi, Kenya and committed to this declaration on African climate and development priorities and demands.

This People’s assembly is happening concurrently with the first Africa Climate Summit (ACS). The ACS ought to have been the opportunity to put forward a real and progressive stance on African climate action and integrated development in a way that centres African solutions and strategies and breaks from the business as usual of Africa being a pawn in the plans of others. Instead it is a space that has been co-opted and captured by foreign interests and private sector greed who are using the summit to push their dangerous distractions and sell off African lands to the highest bidder in the name of “Green Growth” and carbon markets.

This Declaration outlines what Africa needs to pursue moving forward, it outlines what we as peoples need/commit to strive for, and what we demand our governments to do both domestically and in multilateral spaces such as COP28, IMF-WB meetings etc.

We recognise that if Africa doesn’t have a plan for our own destiny and future, we will continue be the subject of others’ plans, with continued exploitation, extraction and colonisation.

Realities we recognise 

Africa is the least responsible for climate change…

contributing less than 4% of annual greenhouse gas emissions currently and less than 1% of cumulative historical emissions), but is the most vulnerable to climate-induced loss and damage to its lands, its crops, its infrastructure, and its peoples.

Africa has faced centuries of oppression….

…. and violation of rights of its people, communities and destruction of our nature and livelihoods, much of which has been done with the motivation of resource theft and extraction.

Africa faces immense climate induced challenges…

in the coming decades: we are already facing increased droughts, floods, famines, and crop failures. Hundreds of million Africans will face climate change induced displacement failing radical change – this will cause unmeasurable loss, suffering, conflict and ultimately societal break down.

We cannot secure climate justice within the boundaries of a broken system…

the existing neoliberal, authoritarian, extractive, neo-colonial, racist, patriarchal systems and societies that close civic space and do not ensure the human rights of all people and communities, particularly those who defend these rights.

We need a reversal of global financial flows…

meaningfully addressing the climate crisis requires reparations and financing in the order of trillions, not the billions which are promised (and remain undelivered); net global financial flows (including all trade, aid, debt, etc.) see flows of over $2 trillion going from Global South to Global North every year – this needs to be reversed as a requisite for real, meaningful, lasting change.

Principles we stand by

System change not climate change

We do not see climate change as a problem in isolation, nor as a simple equation of particles in the atmosphere, but rather as the result of a fundamentally broken system of power, politics, and economics which has put elite interests ahead of the people’s, and allowed the crossing of fundamental natural and social boundaries in the name of profit – this cannot be solved through technology changes alone but requires a fundamental systems change to our societies.

Radical change, not tranquilising gradualism

We cannot afford baby steps and edits around the edges – the scale and speed of change needed is unprecedented and cannot be achieved through incremental changes to fundamentally flawed systems.

Equity and historical responsibility

Rich nations have historical responsibilities for the climate crisis and should fulfil their obligations and fair shares, as per enshrined principles of ‘Common but Differentiated Rights and Respective Capabilities (CBDR-RC)’, They must reduce their emissions to real zero, but must also provide poorer nations the scale of financial support needed to address the crisis. There needs to be a global convergence of per capita material and energy use to sufficiency levels and well-being for all.

People power and community led solutions

Real solutions to climate change cannot be designed in boardrooms and ivory towers – they must come from genuine consultation with people and communities and must put people-centred (not profit-centred) goals at their core.

Equity, Justice & Equality

within our societies, and in our own movements, as regards gender, race, age, abilities, sexual orientation and any other area that manifest discrimination and abuse.

Human rights and protection of defenders

There can be no climate justice without human rights; we must work to protect people whose rights are being infringed, especially those facing persecution by governments and companies for their defense of communities, lands, and environmental integrity.

Free media and freedom of speech and opposition

Free media and free speech play a critical role in providing the information, oversight, and accountability necessary to root out the injustices of the dominant system – we cannot achieve system change without these fundamental freedoms being protected.

False solutions we reject

  • Fossil Fuels
  • Carbon Markets
  • Geoengineering
  • Green hydrogen
  • Distant and hollow Net zero targets
  • Dangerous new technologies and technofixes
  • Debt restructuring and incremental financial reforms
  • Export-led growth
Advocacy, Climate Change, SDGS

African CSOs to President Ruto: Push for Ambitious Adaptation Commitments at Summit

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Dear President Ruto,

We, representatives of CSOs across Africa, wish to commend your leadership in hosting the inaugural Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi this month. You have demonstrated strong leadership to promote Africa’s interests on the global arena, and this summit could not have come at a better time. 

Sign the Petition here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/14vPieDhTyhzlB1B7_mJSLEcjT0LmWOwJUO__X1AAX28/viewform?edit_requested=true

The world is eagerly waiting for this conference, which must deliver ambitious commitments for climate adaptation and climate finance, including loss and damage. 

For the world to decisively respond to the climate crisis, these instruments are crucial. 

For decades, Mr President, despite its critical place in the discourse, climate adaptation has been sidelined in the multilateral climate agenda. Interventions in adaptation have been reactive, incremental, piecemeal and grossly insufficient. 

This implementation gap, unfortunately, is widening. Time is also running out. This must change if the world hopes to cope with the global climate emergency. We implore you to set a precedent by championing a strong climate adaptation agenda at the Summit. 

As the Chairperson of the Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCS), you bear the responsibility for anchoring Africa on a new path. The ACS, under your leadership, must mark the genesis of this new journey. 

Coming only months before COP28, the Nairobi summit offers a unique opportunity to develop and rally the continent behind an alternative African climate and development vision. A vision that reminds the world that Africa’s Just Transition pathways to climate adaptation and resilience is urgent.  

Specifically, this summit must:

  1. Place Africa’s Adaptation needs at the top of its agenda

A the summit, African leaders must unanimously take a firm position that:

  • Clearly articulates the urgency of Africa’s adaptation needs 
  • Advocates for the integration of adaptation into the scope of the Just Transition Work Programme to achieve parity with mitigation
  • Ensures the Global Stocktake at COP28 recognises the link between adaptation and sustainable development goals
  • Recognises that principles of equity, justice, rights-based approaches, and social vulnerability underpin and drive Africa’s climate and development vision for a Just Transition to climate adaptation and resilience. 
  • Prioritises Africa’s agriculture, food systems, agroecology and support for smallholder farmers as a critical adaptation interventions
  • Secures, protects, and advances land rights and security of tenure of farmers, pastoralists, women, Indigenous groups, and other vulnerable groups in order to enhance their resilience, sustain their livelihoods, and protect biodiversity.
  1. Push for momentum on the Global Goal on Adaptation – GGA 

Africa must push for more political momentum towards agreement on global science-based targets whose support has been limited so far. Africa’s leadership must collectively take a position on GGA that promotes an ambitious and effective goal that is easy to communicate, holistic, and globally applicable, while assuring the requisite means of implementation and support for the most vulnerable is one that unites Africans. The goal must also recognise the importance of ecosystems and scaled up finance in line with the temperature goal and needs of developing countries. The position must support the development of targets for priority sectors such as water, food and agriculture, sustainable cities, health, land use and biodiversity. 

  1. Drastic increase in Adaptation Finance 

Mr President, climate impacts in Africa have and will continue to increase in frequency and intensity in the future. Addressing the adaptation financing gap, therefore, demands immediate attention. 

To this end, climate finance commitments, particularly on climate adaptation made under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) , the Paris Agreement and in Glasgow must be delivered urgently. 

More importantly, this summit must aggressively push for the reform of the global financial architecture in a manner that places adaptation finance as the principal priority for these reforms. The overhaul must increase the scale of climate finance, boost access to the finance and recognise the need for concessional finance, notably grants.

The summit must also advocate for incentives and favourable, fit-for-purpose financing options for Africa, namely, tax waivers, debt write-offs, green credits, and other options that meet the adaptation needs of developing countries.  Along with incentives, quality finance is also key. The summit must advocate for finance that is fair, does not increase debt, unbiased, flexible, locally led, and meets local needs

The finance must flow to African institutions, including the African Adaptation Initiative and other community-led resilience building efforts. This Adaptation Finance must also be trackable and involve communities from design to implementation. 

Africa requires up to $86 billion per annum by 2030 to deal with climate shocks. Heads of government at the summit must strongly call for provision of additional financial support to Africa, by identifying new sources and doubling of adaptation finance by wealthy nations. 

Loss & Damage 

The climate conversation is incomplete without discussion on payment for the loss and damage that Africa and other vulnerable countries have and will continue to suffer. The summit must emphasise the need for a full-spectrum approach to L&D finance to cover both economic and non-economic impacts of climate change.  

Global North countries must repay colonial and climate debt to African countries in line with the principles of historical responsibility and Common But Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR-RC). 

It must also advocate for the full operationalisation and capitalisation of the new Loss and Damage Fund by providing new and additional resources that do not generate debt.

Access to this fund by frontline communities and civil society organisations is as critical as having the fund in place. The Nairobi summit must fiercely call for this.

To be truly a success, the Summit must yield concrete actions and outcomes. Africa’s civil society movement is willing to engage beyond the summit for us to realise a transformative and resilient future for Africa and the betterment of humanity and the planet. 

Mr President, in your hands is a lifetime opportunity to steer the climate discourse towards a new and historic trajectory. Doing this will have Africa remember you for generations to come. 

CC: 

Chair, African Union (AU) Commission

Chair, African Ministerial Conference on Environment (AMCEN)

Chair, Africa Group of Negotiators (AGN)