COP23 in Bonn: Africa to take an active part with expectations to implement Paris Agreement by 2020

BONN, Germany (6 November, 2017) – The COP23 to be held in Bonn, Germany, from 6^th to 17^th November will be under the Presidency of Fiji Island and will focus on developing, in conformity with the Paris Agreement, to build its architecture and regime that would be finalized in 2018 for implementation of the Agreement after 2020. And  Africa, as a continent intends to take an active part with huge expectations from this international meeting on Climate Change. It wants to keep up to the African Common Position endorsed by the Heads of State.
 
COP23 is yet another opportunity for the world to demonstrate its readiness to fulfill the ambition of the Paris Agreement. For Africa, it will be an opportunity based on the provisions of the Paris Agreement to specify its needs and prioritize interventions directly aligned with maximizing productivity of its catalytic sectors that amplify socio-economic transformation impacts and contribute towards attainment of the SDGs.
 
Bonn will also provide an opportunity to profile WWF Africa field experiences and lessons learned that demonstrate the need for ensuring the integration of adaptation within conservation that contributes to safeguard high conservation value areas and livelihoods. 
 
Fred Kwame Kumah, WWF’s Africa Director, said: ‘The impacts of climate change in Africa continues to increase to an already vulnerable continent. The world needs to act collectively to reduce global warming through mitigation action and to step up and help vulnerable countries deal with the impacts of a climate crisis they did very little to create’.
 
One key deliverable of the COP23 could be the concrete progress or signal with regards to the operationalization of the US$100bil per year from 2020 and other resources for developing countries.
 
WWF in Africa is engaging with governments to address the current and projected effects of climate change. It does so through advocating for policies that reduce emissions of green house gases, increase energy efficiency,  promote the use of renewable energy sources, and build a climate resilient communities and continent. 

For further information, contact: Victor Nyambok: vnyambok@wwfafrica.org 
Dandy Yela :   dyela@wwfdrc.org