News Release |
KOFI ANNAN WELCOMES COMMITMENT TO INVESTMENT IN CLIMATE-SMART AGRICULTURE
Durban, South Africa, – In a keynote speech at the High Level Panel on
Climate Smart Agriculture – Africa: A Call to Action, former UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Chairman of the Alliance for a Green
Revolution in Africa (AGRA), will welcome investment in climate-smart
initiatives in Africa.
Speaking at the Launch of the Early Action Investment Platform, Mr. Annan will:
* Acknowledge that we are far from the ambition needed to meet the
target of limiting global warming to 2°C.
* Note that this lack of action by politicians and institutions has
eroded trust between governments and their citizens.
* Emphasise the opportunity that Durban offers to rebuild trust
between the North and the South, between the powerful and the weak,
and between citizens and their leaders.
* Stress the importance of building on what has already been agreed
in Copenhagen and Cancun to strengthen the institutions of the
Convention on Climate Change that are the common framework for action.
* Call for developed countries to deliver on their commitment to
mobilise 100 billion USD by 2020 for the Green Climate Fund, and
clarify where the money will be sourced and how it will be accessed.
* Welcome the inclusion of agriculture in Climate Change
discussions, and highlight the potential that investments in climate
smart agriculture in Africa will have in terms of both mitigation and
adaptation.
* Call for decisive leadership at national and international level,
and new partnerships with academic institutions, businesses and
non-governmental organisations, to fulfil Africa’s agricultural
potential.
Mr. Annan will stress that while the climate change discussions are
taking place against a difficult financial background this must not be
used as excuse for delay, warning “the financial crisis has shown the
gravity of waiting for disaster to strike before taking action”.
He will call for progress towards an approach “based on common but
differentiated responsibilities and the respective capabilities of
countries”
He will welcome the more prominent role that Africa is now playing in
climate change discussions and say the continent ” is both
particularly affected by, and has a huge potential to help mitigate
the negative impact of climate change.”
He will add that climate change poses “a real threat to agriculture
production and food security, particularly in Africa”.
But with the right policies, Africa’s rich agricultural potential
could be harnessed to “help achieve global food security, counter the
impact of climate change through sustainable agriculture, and provide
a platform for wider development throughout the continent.
“Realising this potential will not happen by chance”, he will say, but
needs “the engagement and expertise of scientists, governments,
multilateral institutions, farmers’ organisations and business”.
He will conclude by warning that climate change is “an
all-encompassing threat” and the world could not wait for
inter-government agreement to take action.
“We need the creativity, leadership, resources, expertise and
solidarity of every organisation and individual if we are to find
solutions to this common challenge.
“We all have a part to play as well in ensuring our leaders do not shy
away from the hard decisions necessary to ensure the world we pass on
to future generations is a stable, secure, and healthy one”, he will
say.
– Ends –
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