CIGI co-hosts the African Initiative Congress on Climate Change with Makerere University and the Salama SHIELD Foundation on the shores of Lake Victoria at the Munyonyo Speke Resort in Kampala, Uganda, November 1 to 4, 2009. The congress initiates the first-of-its-kind nation-wide dialogue among stakeholders on climate change, building on the existing knowledge base articulated in the Ugandan government’s official National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA). Discussants explore congress highlights, key issues and insights on the way forward in the blog entries below.
Updated Agenda: Download
Associate Director Reflects on Student Representation
This concluding blog has been kindly submitted by Dr. Irene Sage, Associate Director of the African Initiative.
African Initiative objectives are to raise awareness on climate change in Africa and to build leadership capacity to respond to these challenges. These efforts are undertaken with the goal of affecting policy. These objectives can only be achieved if we engage as broad a representation of society as possible.
The inclusion of the leaders of Uganda's 80 districts has allowed us to take the message of this Congress to every corner of the country.
Congress Has Initiated On-Going Dialogue on Climate Change in Uganda
A component of the AICCC mandate was to initiate dialogue among stakeholders involved in climate change in Uganda. On the last day of the Congress, it is clear that this mandate has certainly been fulfilled.
Patrick Mwesigye, the Senior Officer for Africa for UNEP, has indicated that he was so impressed with the Congress that he has asked his director to support adopting the model for similar events in other East African nations. The UNEP has expressed strong interest in a partnership to take this idea forward.
Changing Attitudes Central to Adaptation Process
“Don’t complain about the meat,” admonished Professor James Tumwine from the College of Health Sciences at Makerere University. In light of the environmental pressures caused by meat production and consumption, the AICCC has been a meat-free event. In a country where meat is an assumed component of many recipes, numerous participants have informally questioned the vegetarian fare provided.
The reaction towards the conference menu is illustrative of a concern that has been raised throughout the Congress. Both Dr. Franklyn Lisk and Professor James Tumwine, in their summaries provided in this morning’s initial session, acknowledged that the need to change attitudes was a key component to climate change mitigation in Uganda and throughout Africa.
The Importance of Africa...and the Challenge that Its Future Holds for All Countries
Former Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin gave special prominence to Africa and to climate change in keynote remarks on October 4 at the Centre for International Governance Innovation’s 2009 Conference in Waterloo (Canada) – CIGI 09. His attention to these two topics was a fitting prelude to the African Initiative Congress on Climate Change taking place in Kampala, Uganda, just a month later.
Mr. Martin put the spotlight on three issues for which the G-20 should be held to account (1) global poverty and in particular the poverty of African nations; (2) climate change; (3) international monitoring of major financial institutions and the need for comprehensive financial regulation.
Good Governance Essential for Climate Change Policies
The need for good governance has been emphasized in numerous speeches over the last four days. Remarks pertaining to this have included highlighting the need for increased capacity in fiscal management. At the same time, delegates have recognized that maintaining good governance does not simply include budgetary planning. Participation, particularly by civil society, is also essential.
Climate Change in Africa: Adaptation, Mitigation and Governance Challenges
Yesterday, during our final session of the day, we announced our Special Report on Climate Change in Africa, which presents the fruits of early research in the African Initiative.
Edited by Nelson Sewankambo and Hany Besada, the papers in this special report include:
Student Delegates Braced to Make a Difference in Their Local Schools
The sheer number of secondary students representated at this conference is undoubtedly impressive. Throughout the conference, numerous speakers have commented on how engaging and informative these students have been.
I had the opportunity to dialogue with a few of the students this afternoon to find out their reactions from the Congress. Their comments prove that the youth are an essential component to mitigating and adapting to climate change:
4 Ugandan Regions Discuss Similarities and Differences
The Congress has brought together government officials, including numerous Chief Administrative Offers (CAOs) from varying districts throughout the country. On the second day of the conference, four break out sessions ensured that delegates from each of the four regions were able to communicate collaboratively to discuss the problems of climate change characteristic of their regions, and find viable solutions.
The "Climate Change Refugee": Paradox or Emerging Term?
While governments work towards creating global solutions to climate change, one cannot forget that problems attributed to climate change are also global in nature. An emerging problem associated with climate change is the advent of the so-called ‘climate change refugee’ – a person displaced from one’s country of origin owing to the devastation of one’s livelihood and/or security caused by forces related to climate change.
A growth in dislocated persons is problematic in and of itself. To date, approximately 42 million persons have been forced to leave their homes in search of shelter and safety. This not only pushes these refugees themselves into dire conditions of extreme poverty, but hinders economic development in the least developed countries of the world, which host 86% of the world’s refugee population (according to the UNHCR).
Students Comprise Half of Congress Delegation
With ‘Awareness. Mitigation. Adaptation.’ as its slogan, the African Initiative’s Congress on Climate Change got off to a good start on its opening day with presentations on each of these themes. That said, one of the most impressive features of the Congress was not only the scope of its topics covered and the sheer size of its audience (over 600 delegates), but the fact that half of these were representatives from Uganda’s secondary schools.