Africans Meet in Nairobi to Discuss Climate Change

The Thematic Conference on Employment and Economic Growth: The Challenge of Climate Change was held in Nairobi, Kenya as the fourth part of five thematic conferences. The event was held on September 18 and featured plenary discussions that focused on water resources; food security and agricultural productivity; adaptation to climate change in urban areas; economic development and clean energy; and deforestation avoidance.

 

Over 100 participants from the region attended the meeting ranging from representatives from universities and research institutions to NGOs, private sectors and governments.

 

Several questions were posed to address economic development and clean energy such as:

 

·         What can African governments do to promote “low carbon development” in the energy sector and whether the “low carbon” path is an immediate priority?

·         What are the constraints on generating power based on renewable sources of energy in Africa, and what employment opportunities exist in the sector?

·         How can energy-saving technologies be promoted in Africa and what are employment-creation opportunities in this regard?

·         What benefits can be derived from investing in the production of biofuels, and what constraints would need to be overcome?

·         Is trade in carbon emission reductions through the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) an important source of investment? If not, how can its relevance to Africa be enhanced?

·         What role should African governments, private sectors, civil societies, regional and international organizations play in this area?

 

Talks continued to cover the advantages of clean energy and a number of alternative energies projects that are being implemented across Egypt, Morocco, South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda and Zimbabwe were discussed.

 

The group suggested that governments deregulate small-scale clean energy systems to enable communities and businesses to establish their own tariffs; implement pre-determined standard feed-in tariffs in African countries; and operationalize CDM and carbon-financing instruments in Africa.

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