The joint roadmap was presented during the 12th Africa-EU Ministerial Troika on 28 April 2009 in Luxembourg. The roadp map will serve as the basis for further work on the implementation of the 1st Action Plan (2008-2010) of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy. All activities under this partnership will take place under the following overarching priorities:
A. Capacity development of Africa for climate change.
B. Support to adaptation and mitigation efforts in Africa.
A. Capacity development of Africa for climate change:
The first sub-component of this priority involves capacity building of African countries, RECs and AUC for climate change.The proposed activity “Building and enhancing African negotiators’ capacity in negotiations under the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol” would represent one of the elements of the first sub-component that is considered a priority in light of the 2009 calendar of UNFCCC negotiations.
Proposed activities and modalities:
Complementary to other activities organized in Africa and those focusing on the capacity to implement the Convention within institutions at the national level, the above mentioned project aims to adequately address the need to develop skills of negotiators who ultimately play a crucial role in shaping the regime that is and will be implemented nationally. The project would concentrate directly on developing skills within the overall framework of the Convention. Negotiation skills would be developed at both Regional (AUC), Sub-regional (RECs and other institutions) and national (country level).
The proposed timeline is 2008-2010 and beyond, while the proposed technical and financial means to be used would include in relevant initiatives, programmes and instruments such as:
-GCCA programme/ClimDev programme of AUC, ECA and AfDB
- European Development Fund (10th EDF)
- EU member states, African countries and International institutions and private sectors contributions
-”Triangular” and “south-south” cooperation” modalities
Proposed concrete outcomes to be expected (including priorities and early deliverables) are:
- Strengthen African negotiators’ capacity for the UNFCC and Kyoto and Post Kyoto protocol negotiations;
- Building a critical mass or a core pool of skilled African negotiators at regional, sub-regional and
national levels.
- Give the opportunity to African countries to better represent themselves in the international
negotiations with qualified delegates.
- Strengthen Africa institutions and centres for long term support to the countries and the regions
The second sub-component is “strengthening African capacity to better exploit opportunities under the carbon market. Very few CDM projects have been conducted on the African continent until now. This type of projects could however help a lot African development. Hence the urgent need to support African countries, to improve the number and the quality of their CDM project proposals, through effective and long-term capacity development.
Proposed activities and modalities:
1. Development and coordination of initiatives for CDM-related capacity building in African countries (building on the Nairobi Framework “Catalysing the CDM in Africa”, 2006).
2. Development of programmatic CDMs (aggregation of a significant number of similar projects) covering a combination of emission reductions in relevant sectors in several countries of a same African region.
3. Small scale CDM initiatives appear equally important for Africa in light of their large potential and simplified rules and procedures for monitoring, reporting and verification. The promotion of joint cross-sectoral initiatives at national level is also considered to deserve careful consideration for the CDM activities under the current priority.
B. Support to adaptation and mitigation efforts in Africa:
Sub-component 1: To reduce the impacts of climate change on water and agriculture, which are two important and sensitive sectors affected by climate change in Africa, proper management of African water resources and agriculture is needed to ensure that communities can adapt and combating negative impacts of climate change on these sectors. This will require concrete activities such as:
1) Exchange of experiences and successful actions between EU and Africa in addressing impacts of
climate change on water resources and agriculture, at the global, regional and national levels;
2) Strengthening African countries, RECs, and River Basin Organizations in improving management of transboundary water resources as an adaptation measure to climate change;
3) Improving the enabling environment for inter-African cooperation in the field of agricultural trade as an adaptation response to climate change and in the water and agricultural sectors including within the framework of relevant continental programmes and initiatives such as Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) and Terrafrica;
4) Mapping the hot spots in Africa and required scale of actions; and
6) Strengthening capacity of RECs and African countries inter alia through appropriate technology
in the field of early warning systems for better natural disaster management (e.g., floods, droughts).
Such activities would require concrete technical/financial support to be further assessed and spelled
out in the implementation of the Roadmap.
Sub-component 2: Sustainable land management, fight against desertification and avoided deforestation.
Sustainable land management poses numerous challenges to African development and it should be
integrated in national development strategies, including poverty reduction strategies. The Great Green Wall for the Sahara and Sahel Initiative( GGWSSI) is a set of cross-sectoral actions aimed at the sustainable management of natural resources. It is a flagship initiative that if properly shaped and implemented can significantly contribute to achieve the objectives of the Africa-EU Strategic Partnership and ultimately to poverty alleviation in Africa.
Proposed Activities
Within this context the following activities are proposed:
1. Finalisation of Great Green Wall of the Sahara and Sahel Initiative (GGWSSI) Scope/-feasibility study
2. On the basis of the conclusions and recommendations of the above study:
• proceed with the more detailed identification and formulation of a Master Plan with detailed programs and activities adapted to the national and regional context under Phase 1 of the GGWSSI Plan of Action
• define institutional set-up for the GGWSSI on the basis of the different scenarios proposed in the feasibility study
• select GWWSSI pilot countries in which Sustainable land management preparatory activities could be undertaken under Priority Action 2 of the Africa-EU partnership.
Sub-component 3: Implementation of the Global Climate Change Alliance in Africa (GCCA)
The GCCA intends to step up cooperation between the EU and the developing countries that are hit earliest and hardest by climate change and have the least capacity to react, through:
1) Improved political dialogue on climate change and exchange of experiences in addressing its impact.
2) Concrete financial support for adaptation to the negative effects of climate change and, where beneficial for the achievement of poverty reduction aims, for mitigation measures in five priority areas: (
i) supporting adaptation to the effects of climate change, particularly in the water and agriculture sectors; (ii) reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation; (iii) enhancing participation in the global carbon market through the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM); (iv) promoting Disaster Risk Reduction preparedness and (v) integrating climate change into poverty reduction efforts.
