STATEMENT
BY
HONOURABLE DAVID MWIRARIA,
MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA
DURING THE
SECRETARY-GENERAL’S HIGH-LEVEL EVENT ON CLIMATE CHANGE ENTITLED “THE FUTURE IN OUR HANDS: ADDRESSING THE LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE OF CLIMATE CHANGE”.
THEMATIC PLENARY IV ON FINANCING
AT THE
UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS NEW YORK
ON
24TH SEPTEMBER 2007
Co-Chairs,
May I take this opportunity to commend the Secretary-General of the United Nations Mr. Ban Ki-Moon for organizing this very important event on climate change.
My delegation associates itself with the statement delivered by H. E. Mukhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat, Environment Minister of Pakistan, on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.
Co-Chairs,
Climate change is a reality. It affects all countries but its impacts will be most felt in developing countries, particularly African countries where it is threatening to frustrate poverty eradication efforts.
In terms of impacts, Africa is at the receiving end of climate variability and climate change, with all the consequences of increases in extreme events, such as floods, droughts, cyclones, and high winds, which have the capacity to damage national and sub-regional economies within the continent. For instance, droughts have led to economic losses due to decreases in hydro-power generation while floods have caused widespread damage to infrastructure.
Droughts represent one of the most devastating climate extremes in the continent, and together with floods they have succeeded in disrupting food production and threatening food security. They have also led to loss of lives and interrupt national development plans.
Temperature rises have been accompanied by an increase in vector-borne diseases such as highland malaria, typhoid, cholera and Rift Valley Fever.
Co-Chairs,
As an indication of the global warming, glaciers on mountains such as Kenya and Kilimanjaro are fast melting. Overall, the projected impacts of unmitigated climate change in Kenya and Africa as a whole are likely to have significant negative impacts on human livelihoods, health, water resources, agricultural production and food security, as well as nature-based tourism. All of these would undermine economic prospects across much of the continent. Indeed, most African countries are counted among those least able to effectively respond to and cope with these adverse effects. The risks are many, while the opportunities are far less bountiful.
Co-Chairs,
In Kenya, we have several initiatives being undertaken to improve our understanding of how adaptation can be achieved, in particular, how as a country our adaptive capacity can best be enhanced. However, we need international efforts to support these initiatives.
It is accepted that the more the international community delays in initiating and supporting adaptation activities in the vulnerable countries, the more costly it is going to be in the future.
Climate Change is a global challenge and can only be addressed through collective action. We recognize that there are national interests to be considered. A world where the adaptive capacity in developing countries is ignored or eroded would not serve those interests.
Co-Chairs
You may all be aware that my Government was honored to host the COP12 and MOP2 in the City of Nairobi from the 6thto 17th November 2006 where actions to contain, and possibly reverse the impacts of climate change were central to the discussions.
On Financing, I wish to emphasize that: -
• The international community, particularly the developed countries should assist developing countries, particularly the poor and the most vulnerable countries, cope with their adaptation needs due to the impacts of climate change an obligation under the UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol;
• There is a genuine need to urgently explore means of adequately addressing the adaptation funding needs of developing countries in a sustainable long term basis;
• Recent studies carried out by the World Bank, Oxfam and the UNFCCC indicate that tens of billions of Dollars a year will be required for adaptation;
• So far, only a few hundred million dollars are available from ‘voluntary’ Funding sources. These are the Least Developed Country Fund, Special Climate Change Fund, GEF Small Grants and Bilaterals;
• It is obvious that a huge gap exists between the adaptation funding needs and the actual funding available. This huge gap needs to be dealt with in earnest and urgently.
Co-Chairs,
The interventions made at COP12/MOP2 focused on adaptation where agreement was reached in respect of the principles and modalities that would guide an Adaptation Fund. It was envisaged that this fund would provide a means to assist those developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. It is desirable that this fund be operational by COP 13. As we are all aware that adaptation requires enormous reserves, I would wish to request Annex II Parties to be more innovative and boldly contribute more resources to this Fund.
The Climate Change Convention is one Convention where there have been positive developments in seeking for funds through other innovations, especially through developments in the Market place. This has got to be supported. We therefore support that ‘Adaptation Levy’ be one of the basis for providing funds for adaptation. While the CDM is already being taxed at 2%, we propose that Joint Implementation (JI) and Emissions Trading (ET) also be levied higher than 2%.
Co-Chairs,
The Conference of Parties in Nairobi last year put in place the building blocks that have given content to African priorities under climate change. But a lot more work is needed so that concrete adaptation activities start on the continent including activities to benefit from the carbon market.
Achieving equitable regional distribution of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects, as well as the need for financial resources to support these activities, was recognized as a priority. I wish to note that CDM has the potential to play an important role for the sustainable development and poverty alleviation of Sub-Saharan Africa as it could bring more clean energy generation to the grid, greatly facilitate distributed and off-grid energy access, unlock use of modern biomass resources, and enable a large number of solid waste management projects and programs. Due to the small size of most of the potential projects that can be developed in our countries, we recommended use be made of a regional approach in the development and marketing of CDM projects. This will make projects more attractive to investors.
The need for Capacity building not only in the development of CDM projects by in-country teams but also in the development of long-term regional, sub-regional and national adaptation plans have been recognized. In this respect, I wish to appeal for immediate and deliberate assistance to build capacity at institutional and technical levels to deal with issues pertaining to climate change, and specifically the CDM and adaptation to the adverse effects of climate change.
Co-Chairs,
Countries have long provided vital public good maintaining global environmental assets. Our forests and other ecosystems have been a vast storehouse of biodiversity. However, these ecosystems are under serious threats from deforestation and degradation, and there is urgent need to have in place a system of positive incentives for reducing emissions for deforestation and degradation. I wish therefore to commend the Australian Government and World Bank for their effort to effect this when they recently hosted and facilitated a High Level Meeting on Forests. We urge other industrialized countries to join this effort that is being pulled together by the World Bank.
African and Kenya, in particular, has contributed least to the onset of Climate Change yet we are suffering and are projected to suffer even more from many of its adverse effects. Available information shows positive correlation between increased carbon emissions and increased incomes under existing technologies.
High economic growth is associated with increased carbon emissions, while reduced carbon emissions would generally be associated with low rates of economic growth. Therefore, as you have so well put it in your background note:
“...while only a global solution can solve the global problem of climate change, this solution must be consistent with our overriding priority of sustainable development, poverty reduction and our right to grow our economies – while avoiding the errors of other countries past development parts.
Co-Chairs,
Reports of the IPCC show that it is possible to develop sustainably, on less emission trajectories with technology being given its due role in the response to climate change. We therefore call on the developed countries, particularly Annex II as mandated by the UNFCCC, to provide developing countries especially Africa, with assistance towards finding less carbon intensive path to development, mitigating and adapting to the adverse impacts of climate change.
To this end, my delegation is of the view that: -
• An ambitious comprehensive agreement negotiated with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and building on the Kyoto Protocol must be achieved not later than 2009.
• The UN Climate Change Session in Bali this December should adopt a clear and unambiguous mandate to start such comprehensive negotiations.
• We support multilateralism and believe that the UN framework is the only process which can deliver a truly multilateral solution and should be the focus of negotiations by all countries.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol provide a sound basis for multilateral global action. Although some progress is being made in the implementation of these instruments, these actions are far from adequate, primarily because of limited scope of the commitments of developed country Parties and inadequate implementation of these commitments. We are aware that mitigation potentials in Annex 1 Parties are quite large. What is really needed is the will to bring down the emission.
In the post 2012 climate regime, one of the critical design features has to be equity, we propose that a 2030 timeframe be a guiding framework with which international negotiations should proceed by developed countries. There must be very deep cuts in GHG emissions of at least 30% below 1990 levels by 2020. In coming up with the figures for cuts, we aim to work within a temperature increase of not more than 20C, a proposal that has been found agreeable to a majority of the countries. All other countries will do their fair share with the assistance of positive incentives, carbon markets including the Clean Development Mechanism, investment and other support from Annex II.
Co-Chairs,
I trust that this High-level event and other past and future initiatives on this important subject will serve to reinvigorate political will, interest and commitment to the important but delicate issue of climate change.
I thank you
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