The 27th UN Climate summit is underway till next week in Egypt’s coastal city of Sharm el-Sheikh. It is essential to c that this is the 27th meeting of the parties in about 30 years.
In 2015, in Paris, when the Paris agreement was being passed, Africa was promised by COP 21 president Laurent Fabius that the continent would be recognized for its special needs and circumstances after. Africa is the continent that contributes the least to global emissions, about 4 percent.
But till today, it has been a push and pulls, and Africa is yet to get this promise honored. This year, the agenda has yet to make it to the final agenda to be negotiated. What are the special needs and circumstances Africa has been pushing for recognition? Why should Africa concentrate on building effective local and national institutions to adapt to climate change?
Click on the link below to listen to our conversation with David Lesole,a Climatologist with Botswana’s meteorological services department: a former African Group of negotiators (AGN) on climate change, and a former climate change lecturer at the University of Botswana.