The African Science

AFRICAN SCIENCE
Science + Policy + Practice = Development
Vol 00110
Sep-Oct 2018: Focus on CLIMATE CHANGE
News
CCDA VII meets
in Kenya for
the first time
Caritas Kenya
Launches an
Environmental
Initiative
Caritas Kenya in collaboration
with Kenya Conference of
Catholic Bishops (KCCB) recently
launched an environmental
campaign initiative to champion
for environmental conservation.
“The Church is part of a bigger
initiative meant to make the
country and the world green”, said
Chairman of Caritas Archbishop
Martin Kivuva.
Africa urged
to tap into its
blue economy
Experts have urged Africa to
consider the economic potential of
her oceans. With good reason, Africa
is excited over the prospects of
sharing in the multi-trillion maritime
industry, with the continent’s
Agenda 2063 envisioning the blue
economy as a foremost contributor
to transformation and growth.
The United Nations has described
Africa’s oceans, lakes and rivers as
the “new frontier of the Africa.
Climate change,
boosts slavery
Kenya for the first time played host to
the 7th Climate Change and Development
in Africa Conference (CCDA
VII). Successive meetings had been
convened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The Conference brought together
various stakeholders to interrogate Africa’s
nationally determined contributions and
define actionable climate agendas. Against
the backdrop of an assessment report by
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change the meeting was convened under
the auspices of Pan African Climate Justice
Alliance (PACJA). The IPCC report demonstrated
warming throughout Africa, consistent
with anthropogenic climate change
— Cont Page 3
Britain’s Prince Charles said in Nigeria
that climate change is reviving
a banished slave trade in Africa and
condemnned the trade during a stop
in Ghana, saying that the atrocity has
left an indelible stain on the world’s
history. He said cliamte change is
endangering Africa through a growing
threat to food security.
Prince Charles and his wife Camilla,
the Duchess of Cornwall, also
visited Nigeria.

2 | ASNS NEWS Oct - Nov | 2018
PACJA, UNECA
host FCPF meet
Agriiculture is on
agenda, CSOs say
Mr Munoru, Forester
The Pan African climate justice Alliance
(PACJA) jointly with UNECA
hosted the Africa FCPF regional exchange
workshop in Nairobi. The
workshop was held back-to-back
with the seventh Conference on Climate
Change and Development in
Africa (CCDA-VII). The workshop
was aimed at facilitating regional ex-
change to encourage first-hand learning
and sharing of experiences from
civil society and forest dependent IPs
engagement in REDD+ processes,
and from the Capacity Building Project
being implemented by PACJA
and MPIDO.
The project under the Forest carbon
partnership Facility aims at
strengthening the knowledge of African
Civil Societies, Local Communities
and forest dependent Indigenous
Peoples on REDD+.
The workshop brought together
over 50 participants drawn from
all the 18 FCPF countries namely;
Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African
Republic, Democratic Republic
of Congo, Republic of Congo, Cote
d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana,
Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Mozambique,
Nigeria, Sudan, Tanzania,
Togo and Uganda.
Mr Mithika, CEO, PACJA
Agriculture is one of the main
source of livelihood and income in
Africa. Additionally, agriculture is
central to food security and unlocking
youth entrance to job market. Women
are the majority of the producers.
When holistic analysis of the sector is
done, reality of climate change cannot
be ignored in Africa. Agricultural investment
is a core issue that cannot be
separated from land as a resource. For
effective agricultural production and
practices, land is a vital resource, and
access to it is important in production
and in building resilient communities
that tackle climate change.
“Agriculture is central to food security
and in unlocking youth entrance
to the job market while land is at the
core of it, and access to land is important
in production” Mithika Mwendwa
the executive director PACJA
“When discussing climate change,
land is a factor of production with the
majority of the producers are women”
OXFAMs position.
Food is grown on land, rivers flow
on land. Food is about land. Without
food there is insecurity. Without food
you will bend low and your voice will
not be heard” Ejim Lovelyn
“Agriculture can half poverty way
better than other sectors including oil
and gas. This is because agriculture
includes both women and youth” Joel
Mzinga

Sep - Oct | 2018
ASNS NEWS | 3
CCDA in Kenya cont from Page 1
From page 1
has increased considerably
over time warning that future
warming impacts are likely
to cause wide fluctuations in
thermal and precipitation dynamics.
Responding to the current and future
impacts of climate change, the
parties to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change
submitted an intended nationally determined
contributions (INDC’s)as the
new global climate governance framework
to limit the increase in the global
average temperature to well below 2oC
above pre-industrial levels.
The INDC’s forms part of the Paris
Agreement on climate change, on
which the global climate actions will
be built after 2020.
As of June 2018, of the 54 African
countries signatories to the Paris
Agreement, 44 had submitted their
nationally determined contributions to
the Framework Convention.
The INDC’s are imperative in ensuring
that African countries re-exam-
Participants keenly follow the opening ceremony at the CCDA 7 conference
that took place in Nairobi Kenya in Ocober.
ine their options under the changing
global political landscape to effectively
promote climate resilience and low
carbon emission as outlined in Agenda
2063: The Africa We Want and the Paris
Agreement. Translating NDC’s into
concrete actions, however, requires,
among other things, implementation
plans that prioritize specific sectoral
climate actions and predictable finance
flows, sustained capacity-building and
the transfer of relevant technologies
from developed countries.
This, in turn, calls for serious dialogue
and interaction between policymakers,
scientists and researchers, as
well as other stakeholders, to support
the translation of the nationally determined
contributions into action plans
and programmes.
The gathering built on the sixth
Conference, which focused on understanding
the implementation implications,
challenges and opportunities of
the Paris Agreement in the context of
Africa’s development priorities prior
to it coming into effect on 4 November
2016.
In keeping with the Conference’s
founding philosophy, the seventh meeting
was intended to facilitate sciencepractice-policy
dialogue.
Three themes guided the dialogue:
advancing the implementation of the
nationally determined contributions in
Africa, the role of climate information
and services in support of those contributions
and climate finance for them.
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4 | ASNS NEWS
Sep - Oct | 2018
Explore local funds options, Africa told
Mr Robert Bakika was a member of the panel that discussed financing for climate during
the 7th Climate Change and Development in Africa conference held in Nairobi
Mr Robert Bakika was a member of the
panel that discussed financing for climate
during the 7th Climate Change and Development
in Africa conference held in Nairobi.
The Climate Focus Team met and had a
chat with Mr Bakika. Here is the excerpts.
CF: Africa says it has projects for
funding. But the Multi development
banks say the projects are not bankable.
What is the way out for Africa in the
context of the CCDA7?
Bakika: In my presentations today I started
by saying that what Africa wants does not
communicate. While government representatives
from Africa insist that its priority
in climate financing debates is adaptation,
but the financial needs they prioritise
are for mitigation
CF: Is it because the Africa does not
understand the difference?
Bakika: No they do. But what they say is
their priorities is not what they are communicating
as priority.
CF: How should they communicate
this?
Bakika: Because, one is the different
funding streams available is more towards
mitigation than adaptation. Secondly, the
continent is failing to tap into the existing
domestic sources of financing that they
could use to finance their adaptation needs.
I gave an example of two Kenyan companies
that annually report huge profits. For
example, the Safaricom Ltd announced
last year an equivalent of USD500 million
profits. The question is, how do governments
inform the investments of such
companies to shift into green investment
with projects that will reduce vulnerability
in such areas in the arid and semi-arid
areas which I hear makes 79% of Kenya?
Why would the Kenyan government go for
a loan which will take 8 years of negotiating
for a concession before they are finalized?
Instead, the government could negotiate
with Safaricom to invest into such
green projects and then pay the Safaricom
after some agreed years.
Second thing I highlighted is the tapping
into commercial banks which have
different mandates to explore different
packages to meet customer needs. If you
see commercial banks in Europe, most
green projects are being undertaken by
commercial banks through equity financing
or green bonds. Thirdly, financing for
adaptation can no longer be guaranteed
anymore. Why? I gave an example that
the combined financing by Multilateral
Development banks (World Bank, European
Investment Banks, African Development
Banks etc) claim to have mobilized
now USD35 billion. Of these they have
deployed 79% of this money to mitigation
projects mostly as loans (81% of what has
been disbursed). Yet we in Africa are saying
that financing for climate change should
not be loans. These are facts. Fourthly, the
existing financial mechanisms like the
GCF, Adaptation Funds and GEF are no
longer interesting to donors. In GCF, the
contributing governments are no longer
interested. Yesterday, Australia announced
of its plans to pull out of GCF. It is only
Japan left in it. If Japan pulled out of GCF,
it will collapse because Japan is the greatest
contributor.
Adaptation Fund under LDCF, Kenya
does not benefit under LDCF as this only
benefits few LDC countries where Kenya
does not qualify. It can only get from the
Adaptation Funds, but it is also having
challenges, donors are no longer meeting
their pledges and the money that have been
replenished under the Clean Development
Mechanism is no longer available since the
CDM markets collapsed. This gives the
picture in the international financial market,
that there is no new money. They are
working but are slow and our governments
should not be made to wait. There is also
a commitment under the Addis Ababa Action
Agenda to advance domestic resources.
The question we are asking is can the
governments begin to look inwards given
the slowness of the international financial
markets
Climate finance: Tobiko lauds 5 States
Kenya’s Environment and
Forestry CS Keriako Tobiko has commended
five counties in the country
for successfully implementing the
model of devolved climate finance
that is crucial towards achieving low
carbon emission regime.
Noting that Devolved governance
was playing a crucial role in assisting
Kenyans develop ways to mitigate effects
of climate change at community
level, Mr.Tobiko, said County Climate
Change Fund mechanism integrated
climate risk and empowered poor and
vulnerable communities in the face of
climate change. He said the counties
had put in place structures and processes
enabling access and manage
climate finance in transparent and accountable
manner.
In a speech during the country’s
first PACJA convened National Conference
on Climate Governance in
Nairobi, Mr. Tobiko said the implementation
of climate change actions
was the responsibility of both government
and non-state actors. The Cabinet
Secretary lauded county governments
for putting in place climate
Tobuko
change actions, demonstrating the
critical role devolved governance play
in the country’s transition towards a
low carbon climate resilient development
pathway.
Kenya, like any other developing
countries, he said was vulnerable to
the adverse impacts of climate change
due to the high dependence on climate-sensitive
agricultural production
but will leave no stone unturned in
coming up with mitigation actions.
The CS said increased frequency
and intensity of extreme weather
events like droughts and floods have
hit many regions across Kenya and
posing a challenge to the attainment
of the 2030 sustainable development
agenda. “The poor, women
and children in the various areas are
most affected due to their low adaptive
capacity. These threats, however,
present some opportunities towards
innovative and green investments,”
he said.
Mr. Tobiko said Kenya’s Nationally
Determined Contribution
(NDC) outlined the country’s climate
change commitment under the Paris
Agreement.“Adaptation is a priority
in Kenya and its contribution is envisaged
through mainstreaming of adaptation
actions into all sectors of the
medium term plans to ensure strengthened
resilience to climate change,”
the Cabinet Secretary said.
He said Kenya’s mitigation actions
target abatement of the greenhouse
gas emissions by 30 percent by 2030
relative to the business-as-usual scenario
of 143 million tonnes of carbon
dioxide equivalent.
However, he noted that achievement
of NDC contribution is subject
to international support in the form of
finance, investment, capacity building,
and technology development and
transfer. “Collaboration between the
government and partners is therefore
essential for implementation of the
NDC”, said Tobiko.

Sep - Oct | 2018
ASNS NEWS | 5
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6 |ASNS NEWS Sep - Oct | 2018
EDITORIAL
What Climate
science means
for Africa
Africa is home to one in six of the world’s
people and rising. From its sensitive ecosystems
to booming cities, the continent is vulnerable to
climate change and increasingly important to
tackling it.
Yet fewer than one in ten contributors to a
landmark UN report on the science of 1.5C global
warming launched this month were African, of
whom many were based at universities outside
the region.
A shortage of observational data, high journal
fees and lack of compensation for contributors
throw up barriers to participation in the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) process,
experts tell Climate Home News.
“Africa’s participation in the IPCC assessments
is very limited,” says James Murombedzi,
coordinator of the African Climate Policy Centre
at the United Nations Economic Commission for
Africa (UNECA).
Whereas the IPCC draws confident conclusions
about trends in the EU, North America and
Australia, there is a lot of uncertainty around African
findings. Some chapters have no African
authors, or only one.
Consequently, Murombedzi says African
theories, perspectives and experiences are inadequately
represented.
The numbers
Eight out of 91 lead authors of the IPCC special
report on 1.5C global warming were from
Africa.
A further 78 are among the 783 contributing
authors to the three working groups, with most
focused on the impacts of climate change.
Of the 489 expert reviewers of the first draft,
only 25 were Africans, or 5%.
The problem starts with patchy raw data. “Climate
change is based on long term observations
of weather patterns,” says Murombedzi. “There
is very little climate observation infrastructure in
Africa, and therefore very little is known about
what is actually happening in terms of climate
impacts in Africa.”
That is compounded by a lack of resources
to get African research published in the peerreviewed
journals the IPCC relies on to make its
assessments.
“African scientists lack funding, capacity,
technology, human resource to undertake and
monitor front line research and publish their findings,”
says Brad Garanganga, a climate scientist
from Zimbabwe. “It’s leaving huge data gaps as
research is mainly donor-driven, as African governments
do not invest in research.”
Africa misses out on REDD+
There is a significant disconnect between
global policy optimism on the benefits of
REDD+ and local realities, experts said Thursday
at the start of a two-day talkson “Market
policy versus market mechanisms in the implementation
of the Paris Agreement”.
“REDD+ is alive but not well” Dr. Adeniyi
Kashwan of the University of Connecticut told
a cross-section of climate change experts in
Addis Ababa.As climate change continues to
threaten mankind, the world depends in part
on forests to diminish its devastating effects.
“Forests cover 30% of the world’s land
surface and are also one of the world’s best
methods of storing carbon, absorbing 2.4 billion
tonnes of carbon dioxide each year and
storing billions more” said Dr. Wallace Anacho,
an environmentalist.
According to scientists, deforestation rates
have increased significantly in Africa in the
last decades jeopardizing the efforts to mitigate
the impact of climate change. One initiative
to stop deforestation is Reduced Emissions
from Deforestation and (forest) Degradation
commonly referred to as REDD+. About 29
African countries are involved in the REDD+
project.
“The basic idea of REDD+ is that, you pay
countries and indigenous populations to plant
and protect forests” said Dr. Yetibitu Moges
of the Ethiopian Ministry of environment, forest
and climate change.
The payment usually comes in form of
credits referred to as carbon credits and it is
expected to provide an alternative way of life
to indigenous populations that hitherto relied
on forest products to survive. That is what is
supposed to happen but experts are now worried
that since the initiation of REDD+ by the
United Nations, rights of some local communities
have been abused.
“The future is not as bright as expected. In
many countries we are seeing rights abuses.
Here, we are talking about right to land, right
to forests, right to take things out of the forest
not just timber but vegetable food, non-timber
forest products that people rely on for survival”
said Dr. Adeniyi adding that bans on
forest exploitation have in many cases proved
detrimental to local communities.
“In enforcing these bans we see the use of
military force, police and rangers often going
into the forest with sophisticated ammunition
to harass and terrorize communities. We have
seen these in many African countries sometimes
resulting in the loss of lives”.
The theory that you exclude indigenous
communities from using the forest and then
give them alternative means to survive has in
many cases not materialized on the field, Dr.
Adeniyi said.
“The carbon credit is often shared between
consultants, sometimes foreign consultants
and governments and a little bit offered to
communities. So what is given to communities,
if at all anything is given to them from
REDD+ benefits is nothing compared to what
they are losing. These benefits cannot sustain
livelihoods that indigenous people have developed
over time”.

Sep - Oct | 2018
ASNS NEWS | 7
Africa Development Bank to triple
climate change funding to Africa
The African Development Bank (AfDB)
will triple its funding to 5 billion US dollars
to fund an ambitious Climate Action
Change Plan for the period 2016-2020 in
Africa.
James Kinyangi of the AfDB and the
ClimDev Fund, disclosed the plan will explore
modalities for achieving adaptation,
adequacy and effectiveness of climate finance,
capacity building and technology
transfer – building skills for African economies
to fully harness the potential for adaptation
in high technology sectors.
“Under this plan, the Bank, which hosts
the ClimDev Africa Special Fund, will triple
its annual climate financing to $5 billion
a year by 2020,” Kinyangi said, reiterating
the Bank’s commitment to continue working
with African countries and its partners
to deepen partnerships and investments that
will address the impacts of climate change
On the other hand , African has been
handed a mandate to implement the Paris
Agreement through apt operationalization
of their nationally determined contributions.
Speakers at the Seventh Climate Change
and Development in Africa (CCDA – VII)
conference in Nairobi, October 10,2018,
unanimously agreed Africa should lead the
way in the implementation.
James Murombedzi, Officer in Charge of
the Economic Commission for Africa’s African
Climate Policy Center (ACPC), said
while the Agreement was a treaty between
states, its implementation was a challenge
to countries.
“Africa as a continent has the potential
to drive the implementation of the Paris
Agreement,” he said noting that sustainable,
inclusive and equitable development
which does not increase atmospheric carbon
Climate justice activists demonstrate
for the Paris Agreement
Mr James Kinyangi shares his thoughts with participants during the CCDA 7 held in Nairobi in
October/
concentrations was possible. “But for these
opportunities to be realized, a lot needs to
be done by the different countries”, he observed.
Kenya’s Environment and Forestry Cabinet
secretary, KeriakoTobiko called on
African governments to exercise political
good will to ensure the Paris Agreement
implementation was effective. “Without
political goodwill recommendations from
scientists as contained in the Agreement
cannot be translated into policies,” observed
Tobiko. He pointed out that Climate
change was impacting many African countries
making life perilous for the vulnerable
population, women, children, reason
why the Paris Agreement implementation
was more urgent.
“The implementation of the Paris Agreement
remains a priority for the continent to
adapt to the inevitability of climate variability
and change. It is however important
to emphasize that achieving the goals of
the Agreement require committed leadership
from state and non-state actors,” the
CS said.
Murombedzi said, among other actions,
countries were enjoined to integrated green
economy in the development action plans.
‘“Integration of green economy and other
innovative carbon free investments in national
action plans have today become
critical,” he noted commending the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change’s
(IPCC) global warming of 1.5 °C above
pre-industrial levels. The IPPC report he
added, meant that there was a chance for
a stable climate system allowing sustainable
development if emissions were halted
in the projected time frame.
“Besides halting emissions to have an
organized transition to a carbon neutral future
in the shortest time, restructuring our
economies to ensure sustainable development
without further emissions will ensure
a stable climate system,” Murombedzi
said.
He said it has been demonstrated that in
addressing these challenges, there were opportunities
to be harnessed.
The seventh Conference on Climate
Change and Development in Africa also
geared at addressing the missing links for
enhanced uptake and use of Climate Information
and Services into development
planning, policy and practice in Africa,
including sectoral contributions as well as
understand the various options to finance
climate action, including the modalities for
unlocking available and new forms of climate
finance.

8 ASNS NEWS Sep - Oct| 2018
PICTORIAL
Mr Mithika Mwenda
meets with the
officials from FES
of Germany in the
sidelines of the
CCDA 7 conference
in Nairobi
Nice meeting you my friend, Mr Mumboredzi (left) seems to tell the
unidentified colleague
speakers upon speakers shared their thoughts on how Africa can go about
beating the impacts of climate change
Not bad if i could just receive important business call in the midst of this
conference...Mr Githinji
The media capacity building workshop was held ahead of the CCDA 7
Conference

Sep - Oct | 2018
ASNS NEWS | 9
Tobiko: Unite your voices
Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for
Environment and Forestry Keriako
Tobiko has advised African countries
to speak with one voice during
the COP 24 in Katowice, Poland,
arguing that climate change was a
matter of great concern for the continent.
“Africa is the most vulnerable
continent despite contributing only
about 4% to global greenhouse gas
emissions but when we go to argue
our case we speak in tongues and
come back with no deal,” he lamented.
Tobiko who representing President
Uhuru Kenyatta, during the
opening of CCDA VII the said climate
change was a matter of great
concern for Africa hence the need
for its leaders to speak with a strong
unified voice so as to be heard when
participating in multilateral climate
negotiations and other global issues.
“We have all experienced the devastating
and unprecedented impacts
of climate change on our peoples’
lives and livelihoods as well as our
African Group of Negotiators to the UNFCCC Legal Adviser Seth
Osafo
national economies.,” he said adding
there was need for a unified
approach during COP24. African
Group of Negotiators to the UN-
FCCC Legal Adviser Seth Osafo
echoed similar sentiments arguing
that Africa’s single voice was
critical during the COP 24 this year
slated for Katowice, Poland. He
said priorities for Africa included
effective Implementation of existing
Instruments and Conventions,
entry into force of Doha Amendment,
and completion of work on a
balanced Rule Book for the implementation
of the Paris Agreement.
ECA pledges to help Africa
fight climate change
The Economic Commission for
Africa (ECA) has pledged to work
with African Member States to
explore climate governance prospects
for structural transformation
towards achieving the aspirations
of Agenda 2063 and the sustainable
development goals, Mr. James
Murombedzi of the ECA’s African
Climate Policy Centre (ACPC)
said Tuesday. Speaking in Nairobi,
Mr. Murombedzi said while
the ECA was aware that climate
change was now the major risk in
the achievement of Agendas 2030
and 2063, it will continue to seek
pathways through which to contribute
to poverty reduction through
successful mitigation and adaptation
to climate change in the continent.
“The African Climate Policy
Centre, through the ClimDev Africa
initiative, is already exploring
the climate governance prospects
for Africa structural transformation
towards achieving the aspirations
of Agenda 2063 and the SDGs,” he
said.
The ACPC is also promoting,
with support from the Department
for International Development
(DfID), the Weather and Climate
Information Services (WISER),
the production and use of climate
information to build the capacities
of hydrological and meteorological
authorities across the continent.
Climate change:
ECA to act
Africa needs to urgently adopt
climate resilient development pathways
if it is to survive the adverse
impacts of climate change, the
Economic Commission for Africa
(ECA) has warned.
The ECA also warned that Africa
will not successfully implement the
sustainable development agenda
and its 50-year development plan,
Agenda 2063 if urgent climate actions
are not taken now.
Fossils slow
climate action
The fossil fuel industry has been
active in lobbying for delays in
global climate action. If the targets
of the Paris Agreement on climate
change to reduce emissions are to
be met, the fossil fuel industry will
be losing money. A study on “Revolving
doors and the fossil fuels
industry”, presented by the Greens/
EFA Group in the European Parliament
at the Bonn Climate Talks in
Bonn recently called for the adoption
of a strong conflict of interest
policy. The report gathers studies of
revolving doors between the fossil
fuel industry and States.
Climate change
lead to diseases
The study, published in PLOS
Medicine (link is external), is based
on 27 years of data from Mana
Pools National Park in Zimbabwe.
The mathematical model developed
by Dr Lord and co-authors suggests
that temperature increases over
the last three decades have already
caused major declines in local
populations of tsetse flies, thereby
providing a first step in linking temperature
to the risk of sleeping sickness
in Africa.
Dr Lord said: “If the effect at
Mana Pools extends across the
whole of the Zambezi Valley, then
the transmission of trypanosomes
is likely to be have been greatly
reduced in this warm low-lying region.”

10 | ASNS NEWS Sep - OCT | 2018
Climate change fuel conflicts
Climate experts are blaming escalating violent
conflicts in Africa to natural calamities occasioned
by climate change.
Henry Mutembei, scholar with Nairobi-based
Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and environmental
studies, warned that the continent’s stability
was at stake following climate change-linked disasters
that have fueled inter-communal skirmishes
and forced migration of productive segment of the
population.
“The nexus between climate change and surge
in conflicts, insecurity and migration in Africa is
overwhelming thus placing a heavier responsibility
on governments to address this phenomenon with
urgency,” said Mutembei.
He said noted that the Horn of Africa and Sahel
regions have become flashpoints as famines and
water stress disrupt the livelihoods of agro-pastoral
communities.
“Rapid desertification is already causing a migration
crisis and sporadic conflicts in the Sahel
region.
These climate refugees that are increasing in
numbers pose serious threats to global security,”
said Mutembei. He suggested that targeted investments
in resilience projects including climatesmart
agriculture and restoration of vital ecosystems
could forestall resources-based conflicts in
Africa.
Bethlehem Abebe, an analyst with regional bloc,
the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development
Prof Mutembei
(IGAD), said the security and forced migration dimension
of climate change in Africa should be accorded
priority. “It is evident that climate change is
causing forced mobility and tensions among communities
as they compete for scarce resources. What
is required now is better resilience for refugees and
host communities,” said Abebe. Ruth Omondi, a
conflict resolution specialist, said that skirmishes
linked to climatic shocks are bound to increase in
Africa hence the need for governments to prioritize
coping mechanisms for communities living
in the hotspots. “Severe climatic conditions are
pushing pastoralists and small-scale farmers to
the edges hence the need to develop adaptation
programs that ensures their livelihoods are not
destabilized,” said Omondi adding that regulated
mobility for communities affected by climatic
shocks was key to prevent conflicts.
Experts root for innovative
climate change financing
Shaddad
Greater focus on domestic resource
mobilization as opposed to dwindling overseas
support is key to sustain financing of climate
resilience projects in Africa, campaigners on
climate change have said.
Speaking during a Pan-African climate forum
in Nairobi head of Sudanese Environmental
Conservation Society Muawia Shaddad, said
African countries should enact robust policy
and legislative frameworks to bridge climate
financing gaps through domestic resource
mobilization.
“Over dependence on foreign donors to
finance climate change programs here in Africa
is no longer tenable and we have no choice but
to look for resources internally. It is doable given
the level of economic vitality in the continent,”
Shaddad said. He said African countries should
strengthen public private partnerships to scale up
their financing of climate resilience projects that
accelerate low carbon growth while generating
new jobs for the youthful population. Leader
of a Zambian small-holder farmers’ coalition
Robert Chimambo proposed higher taxation
on fossil fuels and mineral wealth abundant in
Africa to help finance climate change adaptation
and mitigation.“Part of revenue generated from
mining activities and exploitation of fossil
fuels should be channeled towards community
based resilience projects like reforestation,
water management and climate smart agropastoralism,”
said Chimambo. In countries such
as Kenya, the experts suggested that in addition
to the international support, Kenya needs to
increase budget allocations for climate change
adaptation and mitigation response actions at
national and county levels. In this case, the
counties are expected to prioritise climate
change interventions in their County Integrated
Development Plans (CIDPs), design climate
change programmes that respond to the needs.

Sep - OCT | 2018
ASNS NEWS | 11
Africa to inject
$9b to Agric
Expansive lush sugarcane plantations
stretching to 8000 hectares in
Kenya’s semi arid Kwale County
along the coastal line is a clear testimony
that irrigated agriculture
could be the magic bullet for a
green revolution in Africa.
Yields at the Kwale sugar plantation
are higher than they would be were
it rain-fed, and there is no need to
worry about variations in seasonal
rainfall, said Pamela Ogada, the
general manager for the KISCOL
Sugar Company.
Unite, Africa
leaders told
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta
has called on African leaders to
work in unity to be able to combat
effects of climate change.Saying
that climate change is a matter of
life and death for Africa and the
continent has experienced devastating
and unprecedented impacts
of climate change on its peoples’
lives and livelihoods and national
economies. “Given that our shared
ecosystems and natural resources
know no boundaries, it is essential
that we continue to speak in one
voice to safeguard the basis of our
development and seek transformative
solutions,” Uhuru said last
week.
Fewer biofuels,
more green space
Growing and harvesting bioenergy
crops--corn for ethanol or trees to
fuel power plants, for example--is
a poor use of land, which is a precious
resource in the fight against
climate change, says a University
of Michigan researcher.
Untampered green areas like
forests and grasslands naturally
sequester carbon dioxide, and they
are one of society’s best hopes for
quickly reducing the greenhouse
gas in the atmosphere, says John
DeCicco, research professor at the
U-M Energy Institute.
Climate change:
Kenya lauded
Kenya was recently lauded for
leading Africa in trying to find solutions
to threats posed by climate
change through policy development,
devolution and establishment
of the Climate Change Council,
among other initiatives.
ECA’s Mr. James Murombedzi,
Officer in Charge of the African
Climate Policy Center (ACPC),
commended Kenya for developing
a sophisticated framework for the
governance of climate change in
the country.
Billions to be
raised for Africa
Sponsors of development
projects in Africa, borrowers,
lenders, and public and private
sector investors meet in South
Africa to accelerate the continent’s
investment opportunities
in sectors not limited to energy,
infrastructure, transport and utilities,
industry, agriculture, ICT
and Telecoms, water and sanitation
and health and education.
According to a statement from
the Africa Development Bank
(AfDB), the forum targets a total
pipeline of 230 projects worth
over US$208 billion.According
to the bank, 28 boardroom
sessions will curate, screen and
ensure the projects are bankable
and reach financial close.

Africa Science
Covering Science with an African eye |Sep-Oct 2018
News
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P. O. Box 2141, 00100, Nairobi, Kenya
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Industrial emissions: Science have confirmed the emissions are increasing global warmth
African climate experts are calling for government
regulated greenhouse gas emissions to halt atmospheric
temperature rise posing serious threats to
livelihoods and natural assets on the continent.
The experts concurred that the future of African
communities was at stake as global warming will
trigger recurrent droughts, food shortages, new epidemics
and disruption to ecosystems.
Yacob Mulugetta, an Ethiopian scholar and lead
author of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) special report on global warming,
said that rising temperatures will reverse socioeconomic
gains African countries have made in
recent times.
“Global temperatures rise that has been influenced
by human activities is having profound consequences
in Africa where extreme weather events have occurred
with bigger intensity,” said Mulugetta.
“Actionable targets to limit greenhouse gas emissions
are inevitable in order to enhance climate resilience
for African communities,” he added.
Mulugetta said that the international community
has a moral obligation to support climate change mitigation
and adaptation in Africa through deployment
of green technologies and awareness creation.
He warned that rising temperatures will adversely
affect power generation, tourism, infrastructure development
and human settlements in the World’s
second largest continent.
“Limiting the atmospheric temperatures below
1.5 degrees Celsius is not an option if we are to save
communities, nature and livelihoods in vulnerable
African countries,” Mulugetta said.
Mark Majodina, Regional Representative for the
World Meteorological Organization, said action on
atmospheric warming should be embedded in Africa’s
development agenda.
“Basic scientific evidence reveal that Africa is
warming rapidly hence worsening the vulnerability
of communities to extreme weather events. Putting a
cap on carbon emissions is key to enhance the resilience
of populations,” said Majodina.
African countries should be at the center of global
conversations on innovative ways to halt warming
of the planet that has escalated against a backdrop
of consumption of fossil fuels to power industrial
growth.
Prof. Laban Ogallo, a Kenyan Climate Scientist
and scholar advised that less costly but effective options
including reforestation, clean manufacturing,
protection of watersheds and adoption of renewable
energy sources, had the potential of accelerating low
carbon development in Africa.
Rising temperatures will
reverse socio-economic
gains African countries
have made in recent times.