Bonn, Germany — "Partnerships for Implementation of the Paris Agreement: Africa's Response"
On Wednesday, 15 November 2017, COP23 will celebrate Africa Day, a joint initiative of the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Union Commission (AUC), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).
Two years after the Paris Agreement was signed at COP21, Africa continues to consolidate its efforts, focusing particularly on partnerships to ensure that developed countries meet their responsibilities and commitments in terms of funding, and encouraging African nations to pursue a low-carbon development path and maintain their nationally determined contributions. All of this is in line with the roadmap for the African Union's Agenda 2063, the UN's Sustainable Development Goals and the African Development Bank's High 5s.
The theme of this year's Africa Day is therefore: "Partnerships to Implement the Paris Agreement: Africa's Response". The programme will focus on funding, capacity-building, development and technology transfer.
Heads of state, high-level ministerial discussions
There are a number of highlights throughout Africa Day, which will be opened at 11:30 by His Excellency, Alpha Condé, President of Guinea and Chairperson of the African Union; His Excellency, Denis Sassou Nguesso, President of the Republic of Congo and President of the Climate Commission of the Congo Basin; His Excellency, Ali Bongo Ondimba, President of Gabon and Coordinator of the Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC); and His Excellency Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission;
A ministerial debate, moderated by Honorable Pacôme Moubelet-Boubeya, the Gabonese Minister of Forest, Sea and Environment and President of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN), will mark the start of the discussions, followed by a question and answer session.
Official launch of the Africa NDC Hub
The second highlight will be the official launch of the Africa Nationally Determined Contributions Hub (Africa NDC Hub), a support platform set up by the African Development Bank and partners: African Union Commission (AUC), United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), Economic Commission for West Africa States (ECOWAS), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). The Africa NDC works in collaboration with the NDC Partnership to deliver targeted support Africa countries as they implement their NDCs.
The last segment of the Africa Day is an expert panel discussion on climate change to discuss various technical themes.
Africa played a decisive role in the signing of the Paris Agreement. It has so far been ratified by 168 states and the European Union, and 43 of these states are in Africa - representing more than 78% of African nations. This demonstrates the continent's level of commitment and awareness of the need to fight against climate change. Although at COP21 in Paris, developed countries reiterated their pledge to provide 100 billion USD in climate funding every year until 2020, Africa has received less than 4% of these funds. There is still a long way to go!
The Africa Day organised jointly by the AfDB, AUC, ECA and NEPAD at the request of African Heads of State, held at every COP since COP17 in Durban.
