Building Partnerships: EU-Africa Climate Summit

By: Kennedy Liti Mbeva 

 

‘Stand together to make our world a sustainable source for our future as humanity on this planet’ – Nelson Mandela

You may mistake the recent EU-Africa Climate Seminar as a false hope, given that it happened on 1st April (April Fools Day); more so if you are getting disillusioned by the slow pace of the international UNFCCC climate change negotiations. However, this seminar was an important step in the build-up to the 2015 Climate Agreement in Paris, France.Of more immediate importance is the fact that Parties negotiating the new climate agreement have set COP20 in December 2014, Lima, Peru, as the deadline for crafting a negotiation text, from which the 2015 Climate Agreement will be derived.

March in Bonn: Where To?

 

By: Kennedy Liti Mbeva
 
In March 2014, the fourth session of the second stream of the UNFCCC Ad-Hoc Working Group of the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP2.4) took place in Bonn, Germany. This was an important meeting that set the ball rolling towards crafting a global climate agreement by 2015. So, what was this meeting all about, what were the outcomes, and what was their significance? We provide a summary in here; for more elaborate details, this document by UNFCCC would be most appropriate: here.
 
The Agenda
 
As earlier elaborated, ADP2.4 was part of a series of meetings aimed at designing the 2015 Climate Agreement. More specifically, this session was strongly focused on raising ambition for greenhouse reduction through mitigation interventions. In short, the main items in the meeting agenda were:
 

GreenBits at Kenya Power Shift

By: Charles Kyeti

The first-ever KENYA POWER SHIFT was held in Limuru, Kenya, on the 25th-27th March 2014. 120 climate change and environmental activists came together to share their climate stories as well as to discuss actions that the youth in Kenyan could take to combat climate change.This was a brainchild of the eight Kenyan climate activists who had traveled to Istanbul in June 2013 to share and learn from their counterparts from around the world about strategic climate organisation and leadership.Charles Kyeti, a Co-founder and Creative Director of GreenBits initiative was part of this team. Being the group’s secretary he was deeply involved in the conceptualization of the Power shift Idea. This was done in a series of 6 month long meetings held at PAWA 254 offices in Nairobi.

Filling the Basket: ADP2.4

 

 

 

 

 

 

By: ClimateBits Team

March 10-14, 2014 will see the fourth part of the second session of the Enhanced Action on the Durban Platform (ADP2.4)  take place. This is a crucial session, since it marks the start of putting together the elements of the 2015 agreement. But then, what will be the main elements of discussion?

COP19: FROSTY WINDS FROM WARSAW

By: Reuben Makomere

The Atmosphere 

While the world, and particularly the developing countries positioned themselves for the 19th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP19), there was measured optimism that this time, we were going to witness a more decisive COP, sure not to the level that would have been desired but more positive none the less.

Loss and Damage 

This was further captured by the anticipation that surrounded the talks on Loss and Damage following the decision to include the same on the agenda for the Warsaw talks, a key issue particularly in the Developing and Least Developed Countries. All this was in the shadow of looming adverse weather events in the Philippines and off the coast of Somalia.

THE OTHER AGREEMENT

By: Kennedy Liti Mbeva

The Agreement

Back in June 2013, while the climate community was preparing for COP19 in Warsaw, Poland, something happened: the US and China reached an agreement to work on the reduction of HFCs, a family of potent chemicals responsible for ozone depletion as well as green house gases, and is commonly found in refrigerators.

This would be pursued under the auspices of the Montreal Protocol, which deals with substances that deplete the Ozone layer. It is noteworthy that the US and China are the biggest global emitters of carbon; thus, the act of President Obama of the US and President Xi of China was a significant gesture.

DEFROSTING COP19

A New Publication

We are happy to announce that we have a new publication out: Defrosting COP19. This publication is a collection of the articles that were featured in this blog, all neatly tied up.

The articles cover a wide range of issues discussed at COP19, written in a simple, yet informative manner.

Enjoy!

Grab your copy here.

Technology Transfer: A Sneak Peak

By Amanda Asiago

The role of technology in addressing the challenges curtailing sustainable development and climatechange cannot be understated.

The UNFCCC has gone on to recognize the key role that the same plays in ensuring that all parties comply to the provisions of the convention. This is done through sharing of information and environmental oriented and friendly technologies between particularly developed countries which have a higher capacity in terms of technological research and development and developing countries whose capacity for the same is greatly limited In doing this the effort towards mitigation and adaptation as against climate change would be greatly enhanced, particularly concerning developing countries.

The Gender Question

By: Amanda Asiago

It is not in doubt that the gender issue remains sensitive when it comes to the climatedebate. It is also not in doubt that women and children, particularly in developing countries bear the brunt ofclimate change impacts which include floods, famines and droughts among others. The position of women in society has also been recognized as being key in spearheading climate action.

2015 Agreement: A Balancing Act

By: Kennedy Liti Mbeva

If you have been keenly following the UNFCCC climate change negotiations, especially the ADP  stream, then you should be aware of the tug of war parties are having in defining the 2015 Climate Agreement. As it is slowly coming into shape, several options are being considered, with concessions and compromises on positions being key to this process – these options are clearly outlined in the Durban Platform.