African Climate Policy Studies

(PANA)-The UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has announced plans to set up an African Centre for Climate Policy Studies to provide member states with analytical work and capacity for mainstreaming climate-related concerns in the framework of development policies, strategies and plans.

Abdoulie Janneh, UN Under-Secretary General and ECA Executive Secretary, Wednesday told the ongoing UN Conference on Climate Change in Bali, Indonesia, that the task would be undertaken in collaboration with Nobel laureate Rajendra Pachauri and his organization, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) of New Delhi, India.

Collaboration with TERI, Janneh explained, would help develop the capacity of African countries that are more impacted by climate change.

He said those countries were unable to cope with the impact because of high levels of poverty and their heavy reliance on rain-fed agriculture and other climate-sensitive sectors such as fisheries, forest and tourism.

"Climate change will put millions of Africans at risk of water stress and hunger, and further threaten the livelihoods of those who reside in already degraded areas. This is why Africa requires, and deserves, special attention and consideration", he added.

Environment Ministers from over 140 countries, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, non-governmental organizations and civil society groups are attending the meeting that is expected to produce a road map for post 2012, when the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to the UN Convention on Climate Change expires.

At the conference, the ECA chief joined the Africa Group in calling on developed countries to honour their past commitments under the Kyoto Protocol, by reducing green house gas emissions, providing financial resources and facilitating technology transfer to developing countries.

Apart from the proposed Centre, Janneh said ECA would assist in developing the capacity of African countries through the Climate Information for Development (Clim-Dev Africa) programme, which it is implementing in collaboration with the African Union and the African Development Bank.

"Clim-Dev will scale up the capacities of key institutions and stakeholders to improve climate-related data and observation, information services, policies and risk management practices in all climate-sensitive sectors", he said.

Climate change has emerged as one of the most daunting development challenges in Africa.

Though Africa is among the regions that contribute the least to the phenomenon, it is also among the most vulnerable to its negative impact, derailing progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals and sustainable development.

Pachauri chairs the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which, along with former US Vice President Al Gore Jr., was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-induced climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures needed to counteract such change.

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