Africa Action Summit, a Milestone in Addressing Climate Change

The Africa Action Summit was held on November 16 in Marrakech with the participation of several African Heads of state and government and was wrapped the same day with a final statement laying out a forward-looking vision for a common African action to tackle climate change.

The summit, held at the initiative of King Mohammed VI on the sidelines of the climate summit COP22, brought together several Presidents of African countries, including Senegal, Niger, Congo, Liberia and French President François Hollande. It was also attended by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and high level representatives of Africa’s partner countries, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the African Development Bank and the World Bank.

The Summit’s final statement highlights that Africa is disproportionately affected by global warming and reaffirms need to make climate action a lever of emergence in order to build an inclusive, sustainable development model that meets the legitimate aspirations of African populations and safeguards the interests of future generations.

The African Heads of state also committed to speeding up the implementation of initiatives that have already been identified or launched, not only by building on their own resources, but also by mobilizing multilateral and bilateral donors as well as non-state actors.

These initiatives include the “Adaptation of African Agriculture” initiative, known as “Triple A”, the “Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel” project, the “Security, Stability and Sustainability” initiative, the “Rural Resilience” initiative and the “Forests in the Mediterranean Region and the Sahel” initiative.

Also included are the initiatives in favor of renewable energies such as “Africa Renewable Energy Initiative” as well as the “Conservation of the Lake Chad Basin Ecosystem”, the “Blue Growth” initiative, the “African Clean Energy Corridor” and the “Blue Fund for the Congo Basin.”