11 October 2018: African countries have solidified their position and articulated their expectations ahead of the 24th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 24) to the UNFCCC in December 2018, which is expected to finalize implementation guidelines for the Paris Agreement on climate change.

The announcement came during the seventh Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa, which convened in Nairobi, Kenya, from 10-11 October 2018. African experts identified priorities and expectations for the continent, including:

• effective implementation of existing instruments and conventions;
• entry into force of Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol;
• completion of work on the Paris Agreement Work Programme (PAWP);
• support for African initiatives, such as the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative and the Africa Adaptation Initiative; and
• predictable and adequate finance to fight climate change.

Participants also emphasized that converting nationally determined contributions (NDCs) into investment plans and other climate actions requires the appropriate enabling environment, including aligning contributions with existing national plans and enhanced capacity-building interventions.

The conference aimed to facilitate science-practice-policy dialogue, which focused on advancing and sharing lessons learned from implementation of NDCs, the role of climate information and services (CIS) to support them and climate finance for NDCs, which will require significant inflows of conditional finance for their implementation. Partnerships in Africa related to NDC implementation include the Africa NDC Hub, the African Partnership Facility for NDCs and the NDCs facility of the Agence française de développement.

As of June 2018, 44 of the 54 African signatory countries to the Paris Agreement have submitted their NDCs. The Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa is a flagship event of the Climate for Development in Africa (ClimDev-Africa) programme – a joint initiative of the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Union Commission (AUC) and the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). [UNECA Press Release] [Conference Website] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on LDCs’ Priorities for COP 24] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on EU Position on Climate Finance Ahead of COP 24] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on AOSIS Chair Urging Increased Focus on Loss and Damage]