May 2009: The Meeting of the Committee of Experts of the Second Joint Annual Meetings of the African Union (AU) Conference of Ministers of Economy and Finance and UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) Conference of Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development will take place in Cairo, Egypt, from 2-5 June 2009. During the meeting, experts will consider a Progress Report on Climate Change and Development, which aims to update the 2009 Joint Annual Meetings on the progress made in the implementation of the Climate Change and Development (Clim-Dev) Africa programme by the AU Commission and the UNECA since the 2008 conference (E/ECA/COE/28/9; AU/CAMEF/EXP/9(IV)).

The report finds that significant progress has been achieved since the establishment of Clim-Dev and its Africa Climate Policy Centre (ACPC), along with the Clim-Dev Africa Special Fund (CDSF), and that many activities have also been undertaken on the road to the 2009 Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. It also highlights the need for: African countries to raise awareness of the key issues and elements under negotiation for a common African position; and climate change issues to be integrated into national decision making. The report further recommends that: Africa should push for a reform of the current climate change financing governance system; and countries should build institutional, technical and managerial capacities, and introduce incentives for actors to effectively access carbon markets. [The report]