At the opening of the 2022 Civil Society Forum in Abidjan, the President of the African Development Bank, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, reaffirmed the importance of the work of African civil society in advocacy and its role in monitoring the achievement of the continent's climate objectives. The meeting was held from the 6th to 7th of October, a month before the global climate summit, COP27, scheduled to take place from the 6th to 18th of November in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
The forum is an open dialogue with civil society actors, allowing their voices and proposals to be heard. This year's theme was: "Engaging civil society for climate resilience and just energy transition."
The President of the African Development Bank stressed the importance of the African Development Fund's Climate Action Window, which he said "will provide 20 million farmers with access to climate-smart agricultural technologies, and 20 million farmers and pastoralists with weather-indexed insurance... It will rehabilitate one million hectares of degraded land... "
He urged civil society organizations to "strongly defend and support the ADF16 replenishment, as it holds the promise of supporting the most vulnerable against the ravages of climate change."
In a similar vein, Vice President for Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth, Kevin Kariuki, noted that "600 million people did not have access to electricity and about 1 billion lacked access to clean cooking. He said Africa, to meet its needs, must double its energy consumption by 2040. The president said compliance with the objectives of the Paris Agreement was important, including more use of renewable energy, to decarbonize some sectors, especially maritime and aviation, and to strengthen regional interconnection to move towards an African electricity market. He said COP27 must help refocus attention on Africa's needs and priorities.
The 2022 forum enabled grassroots organizations to elevate the voice of African farmers to the highest level of decision-making. The president of the African Farmers' Organization, Kolyang Palebele, sounded the alarm. He said: "The time is critical. We must react quickly to the shocks of climate change affecting the African people." He called for the integration of resilience into national development plans and challenged African heads of state to operationalize the Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Growth and Transformation of Agriculture in Africa for Shared Prosperity.
Members of the diplomatic corps gave strong support to the continent's climate change objectives. Ambassador Wael Badawi, the Egyptian Ambassador to Côte d'Ivoire, commended the forum "for protecting our future and that of future generations" before inviting participants to rendezvous in Sharm-El-Sheikh for the next meeting in November.
Speaking after him, the Ambassador of Korea to Côte d'Ivoire, Mr. Lee Sang Ryul, commended the African Development Bank's efforts to ensure accountability and for the involvement of civil society organizations. He reiterated his country's commitment to supporting energy projects, institutional capacity building and growth on the continent.
The representative of the Ivorian Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Mr. Sidi Braïma Dagnogo, praised the support and efforts of the African Development Bank towards Côte d'Ivoire. He said his country had committed - during the revision of its nationally determined contribution, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30.4%.
Revisiting the African Development Bank's work with African civil society, Vice President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development Beth Dunford underscored civil society's crucial role as an essential link between the bank and African communities. "It is in this sense that this forum has particular significance in consolidating African voices for COP27," she added.
COP27 is expected to be Africa's COP, where Africa's concerns must be raised to advance the global agenda on climate change.
During one of the dialogue sessions, President Adesina as master of ceremonies, gave the floor to different African civil society representatives, including: Salif Traoré alias A'salfo, Ivorian artist and president of Magic System Foundation and a UNESCO ambassador, as well as Soumaya Zadem of the African Youth Advisory Council on Disaster Risk Reduction of the African Union. They raised their voices in a strong tribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals on climate change.
Vice President Kariuki's speech
Amadou Mansour Diouf I Communication and External Relations Department, media@afdb.org
