Africa 'must adapt to climate'

2009-06-11 12:16

Michael Hamlyn

Cape Town - The new Minister for the Environment, Buyelwa Sonjica, told the delegates to the World Economic Forum on Africa on
Thursday that international negotiations on climate change are concentrating too heavily on mitigation of global warming and too little on adaptation to it.

Speaking at a plenary session on addressing climate change, the minister also called for a review of the clean development mechanisms (CDM) in the Kyoto treaty when the world comes to the climate change summit in Copenhagen in December to take the process further.

The CDMs are part of the "flexibility mechanisms" that have eased the obligations on rich countries.

They encourage developed countries to install modern climate-friendly technology in developing countries in return for UN-certified carbon credits towards their own emissions targets.

Estimates suggest that $20-30bn a year is needed to address the needs of the 1.6 billion people lacking an electricity supply, but CDM credits for efficient energy production amounted to only about one billion dollars in 2006.

Development assistance

And China has been awarded 70% of the value of all CDM projects despite having already achieved universal electricity coverage.

By September 2008, Africa had qualified for only 27 out of 1 150 approved projects. "We are unable to access credits from the CDM," Sonjica said.
 
The CDMs would count as mitigation strategies, but Sonjica complained that Africa needs help to adapt to climate change, and the debate has been all about mitigation and not adaptation.

Ulla Tømæs, the development minister from Denmark, who has been conducting talks leading up to the summit in her capital, agreed that adaptation is a key part of climate change policy.

She told delegates that for example in Tanzania, where there is a change in the rainfall pattern, the Masai have to change their harvest seasons and they have to employ different seed to do so.
 
"We can help them with research so that they can keep up their yields," she said, "and with development assistance."

- I-Net Bridge (News24)