Lima (Peru)- The African group at the on-going UN Climate Change Conference holdin in Lima, Peru, said activities in climate change adaptation in developing countries would require increased funding by developed countries.
Dr Samuel Adejuwon, Nigeria’s Director of the Climate Change and Adaptation Department, Federal Ministry of Environment, told the News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) in Lima, Peru, on Sunday that developed countries should deliver on their commitments.
Adejuwon said that the group also called on developed countries to provide technology transfer for the developing countries.
“We (Nigeria) negotiated our way through the Africa position; they (developed countries) must provide finance for adaptation activities in developing countries.
“They must also provide technology transfer for them (developing countries). They don’t want to keep to this commitment.
“ If they can’t do it, we (African group) say come and invest on green technology in our countries so that our people can learn on the job,’’ he said.
Also speaking, Mr Lekan Fadina, a member of the African Group of Negotiators, said that the group had been meeting day and night to make its voice heard on adaptation issues.
Fadina said that the group also saw the issues of financing, technology transfer and capacity building as important tools in addressing climate change.
According to him, one of the key issues in COP 20 that must be addressed a year to the deadline to the signing of a new global pact on curbing greenhouses emission is to come up with a first draft of the deal.
“The meeting is expected to produce the first draft of a global deal to curb greenhouse emission and come up with a legally binding global commitment on greenhouses emission reduction in Paris.
“It is therefore imperative that Lima must pave the way to historical path in Paris 2015 that will be applicable to over 195 countries.
“Lima is the last phase of the decade of long series of negotiations and it paves the way for a new agreement to replace the landmark, climate change Kyoto Protocol of 1997,’’ he said.
Fadina, who is also a Negotiator for Nigeria, said that negotiators would face a tough task of ironing out long standing differences over how to share responsibility for curbing global warming.
Meanwhile, the African civil society groups have called on the conference to adopt the first draft text of a global deal when the document would be produced.
The groups under the umbrella of the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), made the call at the consultative workshop, a side event at on-going COP 20.
The Programme Manager at PACJA, Mr Sam Ogallah, stressed the need for the conference to adopt the document ahead of Paris meeting holding next year.
Ogallah said that the draft document should state ways in which countries would be committed to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions.
He said that the group’s strength was in the preparedness of the African civil society to ensure that the agreement captured African interest.
“On the basis of the foregoing, PACJA will continue to strengthen African civil society organisations(ACSOs) and our allies from the South and North in the effort to ensure a broad ownership of this process.
“It is our desire, together with partners convening and supporting this forum, that all people, especially those who are at the frontline of climate change impacts, be involved in the effort to find solution.
“That’s the only way to make our voices and choices be heard in the countdown to Paris, and the only way to build effective resilience.’’
NAN reports that the group in which Nigeria is playing a key role is of the view that adaptation tool is a significant element in addressing climate change.
The 12- day Conference of the Parties (COP 20) to the Kyoto Protocol which started on Dec. 1 in Lima, Peru is expected to lay the foundation for an effective new, universal climate change agreement.
The conference is expected to carry the prospects of putting the world on the pathway to a comprehensive climate agreement in COP 21 meeting coming up in Paris, France by 2015.
NAN further reports that the conference which began on Dec. 1 is expected to end on Dec. 12.
The meeting also hosts the 10th session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (NAN)