African leaders commit to promote climate change adaptation measures

African leaders committed here on Wednesday to promoting the climate change adaptation measures and policies as catalysts for profound economic and social structural transformation in Africa.

In a declaration of the first Africa Action Summit for continental co-emergence, heads of delegations from 50 African countries vowed to consolidate their respective commitments to tackle the effects of climate change in order to give more coherence to their strategies and move forward together.

They also agreed to speed 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 ones.

The initiatives mainly aim at enhancing Africa's resilience to the threats of climate change, such as the "Africa Adaptation Initiative," the "Adaptation of African Agriculture" initiative, the "Security, Stability and Sustainability" initiative, and the "Rural Resilience" initiative.

Some other initiatives are expected to boost African sustainable co-emergence, like the "Africa Renewable Energy Initiative" and the "Conservation of the Lake Chad Basin Ecosystem".

The leaders committed to encouraging and facilitating the participation of the private sector in mobilizing additional capabilities and funding to tackle the challenge of climate change.

They stressed that Africa, which has contributed the least to global greenhouse gas emissions, is the continent most affected by the impacts of climate change, the consequences of which may jeopardize peace, security and sustainable development in the region.

Held on the sidelines of the 22nd Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP22), the Africa Action Summit was an opportunity for African countries to develop a common vision regarding funding and technology transfer.

The Summit also brought together representatives of the Gulf Cooperation Council, the United States, France, African Union, the World Bank and the African Development Bank. Endit