Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, April 8, 2021 (ECA)- The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) is helping prepare African countries in readiness for the global UN climate change summit (COP26) to be held in Glasgow, UK, later in the year.
Jean Paul Adam, the director of the ECA’s Technology, Climate Change, Natural Resources Division (TCND), said this during the think tank’s 2021 First Quarter Accountability and Programme Performance Review (APPR) Meeting.
According to Mr. Adam, there has been an increased number of initiatives in line with ECA recommendations undertaken by member States at national, sub-regional and regional level to harness green and blue economy to build forward better from the COVID-19 crisis and achieve sustainable development. Alongside these initiatives, he noted an increase in the integration of climate resilience in national sustainable development plans in the continent as well as augmented investment in climate action. ECA is supporting countries to revise their Nationally Determined Commitments (NDCs), boosting the overall continental commitments in raising global climate change ambitions.
Mr. Adam also informed the APPR meeting that ECA was building on the success of the seventh African Regional Forum for Sustainable Development (ARFSD7) to spur continental initiatives and that a draft Strategic road map for the Decade of Action in Africa has been produced.
“Building forward better: Towards a resilient and green Africa to achieve the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063” was the theme of ARFSD7 whichECA co-hosted with the Republic of Congo in Brazzaville, in early March this year.
“The most significant result achieved was consensus reached on Africa’s priorities and policy options for implementation of Agenda 2030 and Agenda 2063 in the context of COVID-19 during ARFSD7 to inform global processes.” Mr. Adam said. “Concrete recommendations such as the operationalization of the Blue Fund of the Congo Basin, that will influence future activities in relation with green and blue financing, alongside priorities to be conveyed to the 2021 High Level Political Forum and will spur initiatives at all levels.”
Accompanying these milestones, Mr. Adam reiterated the key highlights of ARFSD7, which included the Brazzaville Declaration, and the launch of the “Building Forward for an African Green Recovery” report. He also affirmed that ECA is building partnerships with sister UN agencies, private sector, academia, and civil society as it builds momentum towards COP26.
During the elaborate peer reviewed APPR meeting, Mr. Adam and the TCND team outlined the key achievements of ARFSD7 which put the green economy at the center of Africa’s COVID-19 responses, including vaccine development, green financing and utilizing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to promote regional and global value chains and linkages.
ECA is supporting member States to enhance their capacities in designing and implementing initiatives to harness frontier technologies and innovation for sustainable development as well as harnessing green and blue economies to build forward better from the COVID-19 crisis and achieve sustainable development together with meeting the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
Issued by:
Communications Section
Economic Commission for Africa
PO Box 3001
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 551 5826
E-mail: eca-info@un.org