By Nneka Nwogwugwu
Some environmental activists have urged African leaders to properly represent Africa and place climate ambitions at utmost priority at the next United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP27.
COP27 will hold in November, 2022 and Egypt will be hosting it.
The African activists, under the platform, Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), on Thursday, June 2nd, converged at a virtual meeting to discuss climate ambitions.
Kwami Kpondnzo from Friends of the Earth Togo, explained that some changes in structure noticed after the last COP held in Glasgow, include the desire for Nations to make profit, war between Russia and Ukraine where the European Union are planning to invade Africa’s oil Extraction.
He urged African governments to use this opportunity where COP27 will be hosted in Africa to fight the Extraction of fossil fuel because ‘Africa is heavily impacted,’ he said.
Nnimmo Bassey, Executive Director for Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) also noted that the net zero targets by many countries is an ‘Ill accepted proof,’ to end climate change.
He said that despite the fact that they were delegates from Africa at the last COP, some governments are still pushing for fossil fuel expansion.
Speaking on women and children impact on climate change, Ndiville Mokoena, Project Coordinator Gender, CC South Africa, also noted that climate change undermine women’s rights and access to discussing renewable energy policies.
She urged that African governments should make more efforts to create national framework to develop strategies whereby women and girls can participate in the development of policies.
The 2022 Goldman Environmental Prize winner, Barr. Chima Williams also pointed out that one important lesson front line communities should learn is that they should be United and this could serve as a way to earn results from fighting fossil fuel extraction.
In one of the concluding remarks, the Regional Director, Corporate Accountability Uganda, Helen Neima, highlighted that loss and damage finance, collaboration of land market mechanisms, Net zero and agroecology are major agenda that may affect Africa.
She urged African governments to demand they kick big polluters out at the COP27 in Egypt.