Calling Africa to Get Onboard Bali Road Map

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Less than two weeks before a major climate change conference in Poland, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) raised a warning flag that African nations faced the greatest threat to global warming.

Addressing high-level policy makers at the African Conference of Ministers in Charge of Environment on Climate Change For Post 2012 in Algiers, Algeria, UNCCD Executive Secretary Luc Gnacadja underscored the urgency of incorporating land and soil into the broad-level dialogue of effectively combating climate change. That, said Mr. Gnacadja, must start in Africa, the continent that has been hardest hit by the consequences of climate change.

The two-day Algiers conference, which concludes on Thursday, 20 November, is of particular importance for Africa as the world continues deliberations on the necessary actions against climate changes after the expiration of the Kyoto Protocol in 2012. African ministers are now striving to build an African platform on implementing the Bali Road Map, the plan that will lead the world to climate change negotiations in Copenhagen in late 2009.

The Bali Plan of Action explicitly provides to take into account the future needs of African countries affected by desertification, drought and floods Mr. Gnacadja reminded conference delegates.

According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, the desertification of arid soils releases almost 300 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere each year, resulting in almost four percent of total emissions from all sources combined.

The UNCCD Executive Secretary said that Africa must mobilize to create tool and platforms to take on the challenge.

One area of great potential is carbon sequestration, which can further mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. The productivity of terrestrial ecosystems could also be improved. Indeed, carbon sequestration is a win-win context to simultaneously address other global issues such as biodiversity conservation, food security and poverty alleviation. So far, though, no large-scale mechanisms have been implemented nor fully taken into account in existing mechanisms, said Mr. Gnacadja.

Indeed in tackling climate change soil can make a difference. With the science and technology now available, agreeing on measurable reportable and verifiable concepts to sequester carbon into soils is possible, doable, and should therefore not be delayed.

For further information, please contact Marcos Montoiro +49-228-815-2806 or press(at)unccd.int. Also see https://www.unccd.int