2,000 delegates to attend Africa climate week in Kampala

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT  | At least 2,000 delegates are expected to attend the 2020 Africa Climate Change Week [ACW] to be held in Kampala from March 9-13.

Speaking at the Uganda Media Center in Kampala on Thursday, Beatrice Anwar, the state minister for environment said the Africa Climate Week is a unique event that brings together both government and non-party stakeholders to address climate issues under one umbrella in order to become part of the momentum created by the global climate agreement in Paris.

She said over the years, the ACW has served as a platform for bringing together multiple and diverse stakeholders to accelerate and deliver on the implementation of climate action. The week will be held under the theme, ‘’Enhancing partnerships for low-emission and climate-resilient development.”

It will focus on energy, infrastructure, transport, water and food security, governance, policy, finance and mobilization. Anywar said that the ACW is envisioned as a good platform for deliberations on regional climate action in the run-up to the 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in June 2020 in Kigali-Rwanda and the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 26) to the UNFCCC in November 2020 in Glasgow-UK.

Conor Barry, the team leader in charge of strategy development, sustainable development mechanism at the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat said the world can’t afford to ignore climate change because of its already existing impacts across the globe.

He added that although climate change is of a global nature, its impacts are felt locally in terms of floods, extreme temperatures that have caused wildfires in countries like United States, Australia, among others. He said in order to deal with these impacts, there is need for cooperation among all stakeholders.

Barry added that the world can never achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 if climate change is not tackled as it affects all the other goals.

Bob Natifu, the assistant commissioner in charge of Climate Change at the Ministry of Water and Environment said Uganda is investing a lot of money in climate adaptation and mitigations.

He added that they are also working with global partners to support all efforts aimed at defeating climate change impacts. He outlined examples such as Uganda’s ratifying of several global treaties such as the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Climate Change Accord among others.

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