We, community movements, civil society and youth organizations from more than 23 African countries having organized the caravans for climate justice in the period from September 26 to October 9, 2022 as a prelude to the COP27 that will take place on the African continent, 30 years after the adoption of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
- Referring to the 2022 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) – “Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability (Part II)” which recognizes colonialism as one of the main drivers of climate change, thus giving credence to the call for climate justice for the global south. We reaffirm that addressing inequalities in access to resources, goods and services, as well as in participation in decision-making and leadership, is essential to achieving climate and gender justice ;
- Considering that, many African communities do not have the capacity to respond or adapt to the impacts of climate change. Warming trends are already evident on the continent (increasing heat waves, droughts, forest fires and floods) and major negative impacts are expected on agriculture, livestock, fisheries and food security across the region, as well as a knock-on effect on development, undermining progress made in the fight against poverty and inequality;
- Certifying that the cost of inaction far outweighs the cost of action in all sectors affected by climate change, we recognize the obligation of the States responsible for global warming to assist African countries in planning responses and integrating resilience to climate change into their development plans and the need for African States to urgently implement mitigation and adaptation policies through concerted, coherent and inclusive development programs.
- Recognizing that climate change impacts resource-poor and vulnerable groups most severely, particularly women who are dependent on agriculture and local ecological resources. Their dependence on local ecological resources, coupled with existing pressures on health and well-being, and limited access to credit and technology, often prevents them from adequately adapting to the impacts of climate variability and change;
- Noting that climate finance is largely over-reported, largely in favor of debt instruments that not only prove inadequate to the real needs of the region’s countries and their communities, but also place an additional burden on their already strained budgets and unsustainable debt levels. In addition, carbon offsets and other commodification mechanisms only serve to greenwash and offer the biggest polluters the opportunity to
continue polluting to the detriment of populations and ecological balances, especially in Africa.
Read the full declaration here
