ClimDev-Africa retreat

Climate change experts from UNECA, AUC and AfDB gathered for a planning retreat at Debreseit in Ethiopia from 6-7 September under the auspices of the ClimDev-Africa programme. Top of the agenda was the upcoming Third Climate Change and Development in Africa Conference (CCDA-III), which is slated for 21-23 October in Addis Ababa. In addition, the participants deliberated on high level plans for ClimDev-Africa's participation at Cop19, to be held in Warsaw, Poland, in November.

• Besides agreeing the format and content of the CCDA-III conference, it was agreed that the following actions and activities would be prioritised:To hold an Africa Day on the sidelines of COP19 in Warsaw, Poland;
• To use the aspirations of Africa's Agenda 2063 as an overarching platform for climate change action, with the ClimDev-Africa Special Fund (CDSF) as the catalyst;
• To assist in amplifying the voices of the 54 African countries during COP19;
• Through a high level dialogue at COP19, to deliberate on alternative climate change action spaces for Africa;
• To establish an African Group of Negotiators (AGN) expert support group comprising the three pan-African institutions;
• Championing of a green economy approach to Africa's growth, which it was agreed is feasible. The question should not be whether to embrace it, but rather how to anchor it to Africa's development plans.

The meeting further reiterated ClimDev-Africa's commitment to supporting the AGN by delivering analytical outputs on the cost of adaptation in Africa, action on the Nairobi Work Plan, the status of agriculture in Africa, the role of civil society and parliamentarians and the realisation of an African climate change strategy, as requested by African heads of governments in 2009.