Last African gathering before Copenhagen climate summit kicks off

Negotiators and experts from Africa, the continent most vulnerable to global warming, have converged in Ethiopia for their last United Nations-backed meeting before December’s summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, where nations are set to conclude negotiations on a new climate change agreement.

According to the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Africa has a limited capacity to adapt to global warming. The region’s key economic sectors are vulnerable to climate change, and this vulnerability is compounded by existing challenges including poverty, disasters and conflicts.

The week-long meeting which kicked off in Addis Ababa today is a joint initiative of the African Union (AU) and the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (ACMEN), along with ECA and UNEP.

Participants are expected to update the common negotiating position at the Copenhagen talks for Africa, which hopes for an inclusive, fair and effective pact to come out of the summit in the Danish capital. Any agreement must both recognize the continent’s need for adaptation support and understand that the solution to climate change must take its development obstacles into account.

Failure to reach an equitable agreement in Copenhagen will have dire consequences for Africa, warned ECA, which also underscored the need for South-South transfer of knowledge to combat climate change.