Africa Policymakers highlights opportunities at the Africa Climate Week

The Africa Climate Week (ACW) is the first of three annual regional climate events this year to chart a pathway for Africa to the UN Climate Action Summit happening in New York in September, 2019. At the summary event of the ACW on Friday, March 22nd, African policymakers presented the key takeaways to Ambassador Luis Alfonso de Alba, UN Secretary-General`s Special Envoy for this year`s Climate Action Summit, who will pass them on for deliberation at the September gathering. These takeaways were organized around three themes which were the focus of discussions at the Climate Week- CITIES & LOCAL ACTION, ENERGY TRANSITION, AND NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS and which correspond directly to three of the `Transformational Areas` that the United Nations Secretary-General has specially selected to guide the Summit in New York City later in the year. The highlights from the ACW centred around the following: • Africa has solutions to climate change which need to be scaled up and participants across sectors are mobilized for taking action because we can go much farther if we all go together. • Africa Youth have the potentials for taking action on climate change and as a matter of urgency, the continent must harness their enthusiasm and strengthen their capacities, • African policymakers are now concertedly focusing on the opportunities of their countries` Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). NDCs are national climate action plans under the Paris Agreement. . Securing this level of progress is a necesaary investment for the future of our planet, that needs to be facilitated with proper enabling environments and regionally-tailored financial instruments, such as green climate bonds, special-purpose bonds and crowdfunding platforms. The world is currently at a tipping point and further delay may be hazardous. This year is a unique chance to take action on climate change and we sincerely hope that world leaders at the climate summit deliver on their promises and commitments towards the implementation of the Paris Agreement, and that the September Summit would deliver not just documents of declaration, but a concrete list of actions to be taken to achieve our goals. #AfricAfricaClimateWeek #climateaction #climatesolutions #youthaction