Africa urged to incorporate climate change into development strategies

From: Maxwell Awumah, GNA Special Correspondent, Crans-Montana, Switzerland

Geneva, Sept. 26, GNA - Mr Youssouf Ouedraogo, Special Adviser to the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), has urged African countries to consider incorporating climate change and alternative energy resources into their development agendas to safeguard the environment and future of the continent.

He said the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change and the emission of gases enjoins all nations to prioritize development strategies on the effective control of emissions, which is a high contributor to global warming.

Mr Ouedraogo said carbon emission had thus become an integral part of international trade and development, placing an untoward toll on industry, waste management, environmental sustenance, energy sources, development projects as well as global trade. He spoke to Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview at the Geneva Trade and Development Forum (GTDF) underway in Crans-Montana, Switzerland.

Mr Ouedraogo said global "carbon financing" was becoming a specialized and competitive area, demanding technical capacity building, and advised governments, multinational organizations, academia, civil society entities, public and private organizations to invest in that area.

He said the AfDB had therefore repositioned itself to create the requisite awareness by mainstreaming climate change, carbon trade and alternate energy sources as part of a development tool for it clientele. The Special Adviser said facilitating this into the development paradigm would provide capacity on infrastructure, technology and technical guarantees for securing the future for posterity. Mr Henry Derwent, President and Chief Officer of International Emissions Trading Association (IETA), said according to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Africa contributed only two per cent to international Clearing Development Mechanism (CDM) with China, India, Brazil and South Korea recording 70 per cent emissions.

He said financial barriers, regulatory environment, institutional and information difficulties and CDM structural obstacles were responsible for the low success of carbon financing in Africa. Mr Derwent said following the African Carbon Forum held in Dakar recently, the stage was being prepared for awareness creation and inclusive participation of all sovereign nations towards global mitigations of the efforts of carbon emissions and especially climate change and its ramifications. 26 Sept. 08