11 May 2010: The Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC) Representatives Meeting took place on 11 May 2010, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to take stock of developments so far and chart out strategies in the run up to the 16th session of the Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC (COP 16), in Cancun, Mexico, at the end of 2010.
During the meeting, Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture of the African Union Commission(AUC), provided an overview of the AUC’s efforts in the areas of coordination and engagement in the climate change negotiation process since the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference.
In a statement delivered on behalf of Jean Ping , Chair of the AUC, Erastus Mwencha, Deputy Chairperson of the AUC, underlined that African member States should endorse the Copenhagen Accord but also “put African priorities in a correct order.” He recalled the decision of the AU Assembly for Africa to be represented by one delegation at the global negotiations on climate change, underlining that “Africa is politically emerging as a force to reckon with in this process.” He identified a number of priorities, including: scaling up financial resources to address climate change impacts; honoring, by developed countries, financial commitments to Africa to address climate change; a better understanding of the potential impact of the current and projected climate changes on African waters and agriculture; and the diffusion and transfer of technology to developing countries.
Participants included Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister of Ethiopia, and Coordinator of the CAHOSCC; and Abdoulie Janneh, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). [Tumusiime Rhoda Peace’s Presentation] [Erastus Mwencha’s Statement]