COP23 : Spotlight on Africa in Bonn with WWF

During the first week of the COP 23 in Germany, in Bonn, spotlight was on Africa with a dedicated day to the continent in the WWF pavilion.
 
An unique day that gave  opportunity to African countries  through WWF Africa to showcase initiatives and projects carried out to demonstrate the continent's commitment in  climate change. This  dedicated  day was also an opportunity to sensitize the international community and all stakeholders on Africa key issues in terms of  climate change adverse impacts.
 
Indeed, mitigation and adaptation remain key issues  for the African continent due to the skyrocketing costs of these alternatives. By organizing this day, WWF     Africa  invited  the international community to join forces with the continent to help communities adapt to and cope with the vulnerability that the continent is going through  as a result of climate change.
 
For Laurent SOME, WWF Africa Policies & Partnerships Director, it is high time to help Africans take up the challenge of adaptation before the worst happens.     Besides, Africa should adapt to vulnerability to address the climate change, he added.
 
Four key events happened on the African day and important topics have been discussed in these sessions. Opening event was about enhancing responses to climate change in Africa, an open discussion with WWF DRC, WWF Madagascar andDRC, Cameroon & Guinea governments with the objective of exploring options by Africa countries as potential responses to climate change through              mainstreaming into national and local development policies and plans.
The second event was about the climate change  impacts in Africa. WWF Africa screened a film shot in Tanzania with witnesses of Africa's extreme vulnerability to the adverse impacts of climate change.
 
The third event was on 'Climate Change, Energy & Health in Africa: Towards Practical Solutions'. The objective of this session was to mainstream health risks into disaster preparedness and response through demonstrating how, through thoughtful partnerships between education, research & community engagement specialists using  health as the gauge, communities engage and success is measured in climate change, SDGs and disaster risks campaigns. This event was organized in collaboration with Nurses Without Borders of Nigeria.
 
Finally, the fourth and final session of the African  day was the Youth event  under  the theme "Youth and Climate Change in Africa: Harnessing  the  the demographic factor for  a resilient climate future". This event was organized in partnership with the South African Institute of International Affairs.
 
And  the African week  closed on Saturday, November 11, 2017 with the presentation  of the DRC National Adaptation Plan in the presence of Congolese Parliament Members and other experts.
 
Africa has then marked its presence during the first week at COP23 with captivating topics with interesting and enriching debates  on climate change at the WWF pavilion.
 
 
For further information, please contact: Victor Nyambok: vnyambok@wwfafrica.org 
Dandy Yela :   dyela@wwfdrc.org