‘Carbon market initiatives are useless’ — CSOs ask African leaders to reject false climate solutions

A group of civil society organisations (CSOs) and non-state actors has asked African leaders to shun false climate solutions proffered by developed countries. 

At a press conference on Monday, the group, led by Mithika Mwenda, executive director of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), rejected anti-African proposals that increase climate risks for Africa and transfers undue burdens of addressing the climate crisis to countries on the continent. 

The press conference was held ahead of the Africa climate summit (ACS) scheduled to take place in Nairobi, Kenya in September.

Mwenda, who spoke on behalf of the group, said  Africans are already suffering the adverse impacts of debts, global inequality, poverty and other challenges.

He noted that the challenges  have necessitated that African leaders must listen to the “voices of their people, especially youth, women, indigenous peoples, and other vulnerable groups to protect its shared future and home”.

Mwenda said carbon market initiatives which Africa is excited about are nothing but “greenwashing” used to mislead the public that products and policies are environment-friendly. 

He said the continent needs to pursue positive solutions like securing adequate and flexible finance for adaptation, loss and damage and mitigation actions, especially from developed countries who are historically responsible for greenhouse gas emissions. 

“The carbon market initiatives our leaders are excited about are useless and will disappoint as they do not serve a purpose,” Mwenda said. 

“The summit must press for increasing adaptation finance to Africa by more than double and ensuring it is needs-based and reaches communities at the forefront of the climate crisis.

“Such finance must be primarily public-sourced, new and additionally to official development assistance and in the form of grants and other non-loan instruments and therefore the summit must aim to conclude discussions on the new collective and quantified goal on climate finance.

“With the absence of effective solutions from global leaders, we insist that all deliberations and decisions at the African Climate Summit uphold the human rights of all, especially those who bear the brunt of climate change, such as indigenous people, women, children, persons with disabilities, and impoverished communities.”

THEIR DEMANDS

The group expressed worry that the ACS may fall short of reflecting the voices and aspirations of African people,  and made six demands to African presidents.

The requests include ensuring that the leaders put the people of Africa above all personal and collective political and economic interests.

According to Mwenda, African leaders must “stand by the principles of climate justice, human rights, gender equality, and intergenerational equity in all climate policies and actions”.

“The leaders must also reject false solutions and narratives that undermine African communities’ rights, interests and sovereignty, such as carbon markets, geoengineering, nuclear energy, and the principle of shared responsibilities,” he said.

“They must commit to a just and equitable transition to renewable energy, ensuring that energy access is prioritised for the poor and marginalised and that community ownership and participation are guaranteed.

“We demand that developed countries fulfil their historical responsibility and provide adequate and predictable finance, technology transfer, and capacity building to support adaptation, mitigation, and loss and damage in Africa.”

Recently, over 400 CSOs had said the ACS had been hijacked by Western governments and called for a resetting of the summit’s agenda to withdraw all external influences.