(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Climate Brief: An African COP [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2022-11-05 The 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) debuts tomorrow in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, with live streamed opening ceremonies preceding a two-week agenda that has regular conference attendees determined to pursue high ambitions in the negotiations. Record breaking floods, droughts, fires, and heat waves have fueled pressure to make this year’s COP monumental. Finance will play a huge role in the proceedings, as the most climate-vulnerable and least developed nations ratchet up pressure on the global north to commit to more ambitious contributions to assist them in addressing climate change. These contributions come in the form of the Green Climate Fund and Loss and Damage. We are in the era of Loss and Damage (L&D). The hard limits to adaptation are being realized and the scale of the challenge ahead is significant as impacts of climate change are greater than previously expected. The recent IPCC impacts report shows extreme climatic events have been observed in all regions, with unprecedented consequences, especially related to 127 key risks identified by the IPCC. Complex, compounding and cascading risks are sweeping across sectors and regions and amongst this “atlas of human suffering” it is those regions and people with considerable development constraints who have the highest vulnerability and who have contributed the least to climate change that are suffering the disproportionate impacts. us.boell.org/... Given the severity of the issues facing this year’s conference, it is fitting that COP27 is being held in North Africa: Africa is the most climate-vulnerable continent, spending up to 15% of its GPD annually to address the effects of climate change; up to ¼ billion Africans live on land which is compromised by extreme weather, food and water security; and there is a rampant lack of access to viable means to transition out of poverty. Four thousand lives have been lost on the African continent this year due to flooding and droughts. “Africa’s climate has warmed more than the global average since pre-industrial times (1850-1900),” says WMO Secretary-General Prof. Petteri Taalas. “In parallel, the sea level rise along African coastlines is faster than the global mean, contributing to increases in the frequency and severity of coastal flooding and erosion, and salinity in low-lying cities x #Ethiopia has already committed significant resources to reduce GHGs & build resilience, including for the implementation of afforestation & land rehab interventions, generation and distribution of electricity from clean and renewable sources. #COP27 #EthiopiaRising @UNDPClimate — Freeman (@Noto21stColonzm) November 5, 2022 The Guardian reports in The climate is already collapsing in Africa – but its nations have a plan: For Africa, climate change is an irreversible reality. It’s too late to turn back the clock. But we have a very narrow window to put coping mechanisms in place. That is why we have two priorities for the coming UN Cop27 climate summit in Egypt: keep the 1.5C warming target within reach, so as to avoid even worse impacts of climate change, and to radically accelerate climate adaptation action in Africa and in all vulnerable developing countries across the globe. x 🇪🇹 is one of the more than 20 African countries of The Green Wall project working to combat desertification by holding back expansion of the Sahara with a wall of trees across the entire Sahel #COP27 #EthiopiaRising pic.twitter.com/T2LD80RUpN @UNDPClimate @mfaethiopia — Rubaabii Alii (@RubaabiiA) November 5, 2022 African nations are heavily invested in adapting to climate change through such interventions as using drought-resistant crops, revitalizing ecosystems, providing digitizing small-scale farms, and greening the job market for youth. As the Guardian reports: “In short, if climate-change mitigation is the only way to keep our planet livable, climate adaptation is an opportunity to forge a new climate-resilient development path for Africa – a path that is smarter, more effective, more efficient and more productive. “Africa has everything necessary to succeed. It has the youngest population of any continent, it has conquered innumerable challenges (including most recently Covid 19) and its nations are determined to transform the climate crisis into an opportunity.” x #GreenLegacy ❤️ @AbdoMed90425723 5 years ago So young yet you believe in my Vision. Today you are in #Cop27 to talk about #Djibouti and how we are thriving for a sustainable country. You will be our Voice and I am so Proud that you are my #legacy #youth #ClimateChange #SDGs pic.twitter.com/tDoIUigaY2 — Fahima Mohamed- Farm Girl (@Raliyamalabo) November 5, 2022 “As COP27 takes place in Africa this November, there are high expectations that “the African COP” will deliver substantive progress and implementable climate actions on the priority issues for Africa and other developing countries.” Ephraim Mwepya Shitima, Chair of the African Group of Negotiators (AGN) x African countries need to speak with one voice and make collective demands at #COP27. Here's an outline of Africa's priorities at Sharm El-Sheikh: https://t.co/pC0nB8fgH0 pic.twitter.com/Z7oI4Gvy9k — Power Shift Africa (@PowerShftAfrica) November 5, 2022 In the context of scaled-up climate financing commitments from developed countries as suggested above, there should also be an upscaling of adaptation funding to put it on an equal footing with mitigation, with governments committing to allocate at least 50% of climate finance, whether channeled bilaterally orthrough the GCF and GEF to adaptation, now and for the future. COP 27 should agree on a delivery plan for doubling adaptation finance in line with COP26 decision the ‘Glasgow Climate Pact’ Real delivery of enhanced climate finance and other support to Africa and other developing countries Strengthening adaptation action and support Addressing climate-induced loss and damage as a key part of multilateral cooperative climate action Enhancing ambition on mitigation towards 1.5C Developed countries need to live up to their duty to lead by achieving zero emissions well before mid-century, and must acknowledge that for poor and vulnerable developing countries, sustainable economic and social development and poverty eradication continue to be key priorities, especially in the context of the devastating economic and social impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, global economic recession, and other economic and environmental challenges to development. Supporting African just transitions and sustainable development Maximizing the Global Stocktake to highlight equity x #COP27 is a vital opportunity for the world to support #Africa in facing the impact of climate change and building pathways to resilience. It is also a chance to reset and renew the partnership between the world’s youngest and most hopeful continent and the global north.#COP27 https://t.co/FnZPPp1Cce — Hussein Idow Ali (@HusseinidowAli) November 5, 2022 Follow the #COP27 tag at Daily Kos for previous stories and ongoing coverage of the climate talks. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/11/5/2133860/-Climate-Brief-An-African-COP Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/