The African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) has published a guidebook that addresses topics such as the impacts and implications of climate change, resources needed to implement adaptation and mitigation actions, and guidelines for attaining financing for these measures.
16 February 2012: The African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) has published a report titled “Addressing Climate Change Challenges in Africa: A Practical Guide towards Sustainable Development,” which provides policy makers working in or with Africa with a practical guide and advice on addressing climate change within sustainable development policies and programmes.
The publication emphasizes a “development first” approach that sees climate and development as being interlinked. Prepared at the request of AMCEN’s Member States, the guidebook addresses topics including: the impacts and implications of climate change on systems and key sectors; actions to mitigate and adapt to climate change; the capacity building, technological and financial resources needed to implement adaptation and mitigation actions; and guidelines for funding sources, particularly under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). A number of case studies focus on climate change mitigation, adaptation and the green economy.
The guide stresses that challenges to transition to a green economy are particularly complex in the African context, due to complex social, economic and technological barriers, but a number of opportunities still exist, such as off-grid renewable energy services for poor households, community forest management and leapfrogging the carbon-intensive phase of development. [Publication: Addressing Climate Change Challenges in Africa: A Practical Guide towards Sustainable Development]