ClimDev-Africa prepares for a strong showing at Lima climate talks

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (ACPC) – Preparations have gone into high gear at the Secretariat of the ClimDev-Africa Programme for a strong showing at the forthcoming Lima climate talks (COP20) scheduled to open in the Peruvian capital on 1 December 2014.

Officials at ACPC say the joint initiative plans at least two side events during the two-week parley – the first scheduled for 8^th December 2014, will be a Dinner Dialogue on the theme “Providing climate services for Africa’s transformation agenda - in what ways can we do more?“.

The second will be the organising of an Africa Day event planned for 10^th December 2014 to address two themes: “Role of women and Youth in Climate Change Adaptation in Africa” and “Africa’s Institutional Readiness for Climate Finance”. The venues and times of the two events will be communicated shortly.

The two events are organised through a tripartite collaborative of the African Union Commission (AUC), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) within the framework of the ClimDev-Africa programme.

The overarching idea for the events is to bring together policy makers, scientists and practitioners to deliberate on each of the themes. Specifically, the Dinner Dialogue theme will explore the role of climate data, information and knowledge for agriculture production, water resources management and food security; while the themes of the Africa Day event will address the socio-economic aspects of bringing on board women and the youth on issues of access to climate finance for building Africa’s resilience to climate impacts.

The two events will above all, serve as platforms for deliberation on climate science, as well as for encouraging dialogue on policy and practical challenges posed to Africa’s development by climate change. All the contributions will strengthen Africa’s preparations for negotiations on a new climate agreement expected to come into force next year at COP21 in Paris.

“The objective of this dinner dialogue is to provide a multidisciplinary platform to discuss various perspectives for enhancing the provision of climate information services in support of Africa’s transformation. The dinner will also allow for building partnerships and resource mobilization to respond to the investment needs for climate services in Africa”, according to Johnson Nkem, Senior Climate Adaptation Expert at ECA's African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC).

Within the framework of ClimDev-Africa mandate in supporting African countries with the provision of climate information services, Dr Fatima Denton, Director of Special Initiative Division of the Economic Commission for Africa, will provide highlights on the establishment of the ‘Climate Research for Development in Africa’ (CR4D) initiative and the steps already taken towards its operationalization.

There will be a report on the operationalization of the ClimDev Special Fund (CDSF) as requested in the first Dinner Dialogue during COP18 in Doha.