Le premier Sommet africain sur le climat s’est achevé mercredi avec l’adoption d’une « Déclaration de Nairobi ». Elle est destinée à concrétiser le potentiel du continent dans une croissance verte, a annoncé William Ruto, le président du Kenya qui a accueilli la réunion.

« Cette déclaration servira de base à la position commune de l’Afrique dans le processus mondial sur le changement climatique jusqu’à la COP28 et au-delà », affirment les signataires dans ce texte.

Le sommet de Nairobi a lancé quatre mois de réunions internationales abordant les questions climatiques, qui culmineront avec la conférence de l’ONU sur le climat (COP28) de Dubaï fin novembre. La bataille sur la fin des énergies fossiles s’y annonce vive

Dans leur déclaration finale, les pays africains demandent notamment à la communauté internationale de contribuer à « augmenter la capacité de production d’énergies renouvelables de l’Afrique de 56 gigawatts en 2022 à au moins 300 gigawatts d’ici 2030 (…) pour lutter contre la précarité énergétique et de renforcer l’approvisionnement mondial en énergie propre et rentable ».

« La restructuration et l’allégement de la dette »

Ils proposent également d’établir « une nouvelle architecture de financement adaptée aux besoins de l’Afrique y compris la restructuration et l’allégement de la dette », dont le fardeau pèse lourdement sur leurs économies.

Ils appellent aussi les dirigeants de la planète à « se rallier à la proposition d’un régime de taxe sur le carbone, comprenant une taxe carbone sur le commerce des combustibles fossiles, le transport maritime et l’aviation, qui peut également être augmentée par une taxe mondiale sur les transactions financières ».

Lors de ces trois jours de réunion dans la capitale kényane, 23 milliards de dollars de promesses d’investissement dans les énergies renouvelables ont été faites, a affirmé le président Ruto, dont 4,5 milliards de dollars d’investissements de la part des Émirats arabes unis.

Quels sont les enjeux du premier Sommet africain pour le climat ?

Ce premier Sommet africain pour le climat lance les quatre mois les plus chargés de l’année pour les négociations climatiques internationales, qui culmineront avec une bataille sur la fin des énergies fossiles à la COP28 à Dubaï de fin novembre à début décembre.

« Un langage commun » 

Pendant trois jours, dirigeants et responsables d’Afrique et d’ailleurs, dont le chef de l’ONU António Guterres, vont être accueillis dans la capitale kényane par le président William Ruto. Il souhaite que ce sommet permette au continent de trouver un langage commun sur le développement et le climat afin de « proposer des solutions africaines » à la COP28. Un positionnement africain sur le sujet permettrait de « sauver des vies et la planète du désastre« , a-t-il déclaré.

« Nous aspirons à définir un nouvel agenda de la croissance qui permette une prospérité partagée et un développement durable », a-t-il poursuivi sur X (ex-Twitter), en appelant la communauté internationale à dégager des fonds pour le continent et à alléger le poids de la dette pesant sur les pays africains.

L’Afrique, où vit 1,2 milliard d’habitants dans 54 pays, est politiquement et économiquement diverse et abrite des populations parmi les plus vulnérables au changement climatique.

« Un élan avant la COP28 »

Un succès à Nairobi autour d’une vision partagée sur le développement vert de l’Afrique donnerait un élan à plusieurs réunions internationales clés avant la COP28, en premier lieu en septembre le sommet du G20 en Inde et l’Assemblée générale des Nations unies, puis en octobre la réunion annuelle de la Banque mondiale et du Fonds monétaire international (FMI) à Marrakech.

William Ruto, président du Kenya, s’exprime lors d’une conférence de presse au Sommet pour un nouveau pacte financier mondial, le 23 juin 2023 à Paris. @Photo AP/Lewis Joly.

Selon Joseph Nganga, nommé par William Ruto pour présider le sommet, la conférence devrait démontrer que « l’Afrique n’est pas juste une victime mais un continent dynamique avec des solutions pour le monde ».

Nous avons le pouvoir de répondre à cette crise (…) L’Afrique représente une opportunité pour le monde si nous travaillons ensemble à des bénéfices mutuels.

Joseph Nganga du mouvement Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP)

Des défis « écrasants » pour le continent

Pour limiter le réchauffement climatique à +1,5°C par rapport à l’ère préindustrielle prévu par l’accord de Paris, l’investissement doit atteindre 2.000 milliards de dollars par an dans ces pays en l’espace d’une décennie, a calculé le FMI.
Un projet de « Déclaration de Nairobi » consulté par l’AFP, mais encore en négociation, souligne le « potentiel unique de l’Afrique pour être une partie essentielle de la solution ».

Le document cite le vaste potentiel de la région en énergies renouvelables, sa main-d’oeuvre jeune et ses atouts naturels, notamment 40% des réserves mondiales de cobalt, de manganèse et de platine, essentiels pour les batteries et l’hydrogène.

Mais les défis sont écrasants pour un continent où quelque 500 millions de personnes n’ont pas accès à l’électricité. Et les dirigeants africains ne cessent de souligner les obstacles financiers considérables.

L’Afrique, qui abrite 60% des meilleurs potentiels mondiaux en énergie solaire, n’a toutefois qu’une capacité installée similaire à la Belgique, ont souligné récemment le président kényan et le patron de l’Agence internationale de l’énergie (AIE).

En cause, notamment : seuls 3% des investissements mondiaux de la transition énergétique arrivent en Afrique, ont-ils déclaré.

Selon Charra Tesfaye Terfassa, du groupe de réflexion E3G, le sommet devrait trouver un équilibre entre optimisme et évaluation rigoureuse des défis pour « tracer une nouvelle voie afin que l’Afrique soit un élément clé de la conversation mondiale et bénéficie des opportunités de la transition ».

World Opinions + Agences

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For decades, Kenya’s restrictive refugee policies have denied refugees freedom of movement and the right to work. But there’s change in the air – and it’s exciting.

The Refugee Act, a new law passed late last year, could in fact position the country as a global leader on refugees. Now Kenya needs support to make sure that happens. Doing so not only benefits refugees in the country but the Kenyan economy as a whole – and could signal to the world how refugees’ inclusion can yield positive results for all.

Kenya currently hosts more than half a million registered refugees and asylum seekers. Most have been required to remain in camps for years, have been unable to obtain work permits and other documentation, and have faced limited access to education, vocational training and financial services. For decades, they have relied on humanitarian assistance.

In recent years, many governments around the world – including Kenya – have recognised that refugees can benefit their economies. A study by the World Bank in 2015 and 2016 concluded that Kenya’s Kakuma refugee camp has led to an increase in overall average local income and employment in Turkana, the county where the camp is based. Other research has corroborated those economic gains for the local population when refugees are integrated with the host communities.

That’s what the Refugee Act could facilitate. It promises to improve refugee access to a range of rights, including freedom of movement, the right to work, better access to financial services, better access to documentation and education, and the ability to start a business. Recent indications from Kenya indicate that its leadership is ready to work with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to move away from a closed camp model to help refugees become self-reliant.

That is welcome. Until recently, Kenya – like a majority of the world’s refugee-hosting states – limited refugees’ freedom of movement and their right to work. Indeed, with the exception of Uganda, most of Kenya’s neighbours require refugees to live in camps or settlements, which tend to be in remote and economically-challenged areas where host communities are also struggling. These all-too-common models of refugee response perpetuate cycles of poverty and forced reliance on aid that can last for years, even decades. They can also build tensions between refugee and host populations, and leave displaced people in precarity for years on end.

However, as Kenya welcomes large numbers of new Somali refugees fleeing instability and the effects of a changing climate, as well as an ongoing influx of South Sudanese refugees, it needs support from donors and the international community to respond to these challenges.

Kenya already has gains to point to. In 2016, it opened the Kalobeyei settlement, which is administered by the country’s government, the UNHCR, the local Turkana county administration and other partners.

Just 3.5km (2.2 miles) from Kakuma – where refugees cannot formally work and move freely – Kalobeyei encourages self-reliance and integration with the local community. The settlement seeks to help refugees transition away from ongoing humanitarian aid by using cash-based programmes, greater vocational training, and entrepreneurial and agricultural opportunities.

In addition to greater freedom of movement, programmes like the Kakuma Kalobeyei Challenge Fund aim to encourage private-sector investment in areas hosting refugees.

Although research indicates that refugees in all settlements and camps still struggle, refugees in Kalobeyei were found to have better diets and food security, as well as higher levels of interaction with members of the local community. These are notable successes.

Kenya’s policy evolution also comes at a critical time for change in the region, in the form of an expanding East African Community (EAC) that could also be a game changer for refugees.

Refugees from EAC countries – including the Democratic Republic of the Congo (and perhaps even Somalia someday), can claim the rights of citizens in any other nation within the bloc. That includes the freedom of movement and the right to work.

Granted, refugees from these countries will need to choose to give up their refugee status and the protections and assistance that go with it – which is not a small decision – should they choose to take up the citizenship. However, if some of the refugees in Kenya chose this path instead of the current encampment policy, it could free up resources to respond to other refugee populations more in need of protection and assistance.

Yet the pressure to respond to fast-paced influxes on multiple borders and a long tradition of treating refugees as security threats and scapegoats for political gain means that rights advocates cannot rest easy. The risk that Kenya could backslide to its restrictive policies of limiting refugee rights remains.

This would be to the detriment of Kenya and the broader region and could also wipe out the gains and investments the country’s government and its international partners have made in recent years. East Africa needs Kenya’s economic and political leadership, its diplomatic clout and its humanitarian and development capabilities now more than ever.

The international community should work with Kenyan authorities – at the national and county levels – to ensure successful implementation of the new law. Humanitarian and development actors must continue to support the Kalobeyei model, drawing on lessons learned and replicating it elsewhere. Donors must pressure Kenya to adopt these types of approaches in line with the new Refugee Law and match that pressure with funding and long-term programmes of support.

We must seize this critical moment in Kenya. It holds the potential for a new direction on refugee rights and solutions – one that could change the way hundreds of thousands of people live and that could affect how the region and the world think about refugees.

By Abdullahi Boru HalakheAbdullahi Boru Halakhe is an expert on governance, security and peace in Africa.Abdullahi Boru Halakhe is an expert on governance, security and peace in Africa.

By Sarah Deardorff MillerSenior Fellow at Refugees InternationalSarah Deardorff Miller is a Senior Fellow at Refugees International, where she focuses on refugee access to the labor market. She has a Doctorate from Oxford University and teaches at Georgetown University.

Aljazeera

L’article Can Kenya emerge as a role model on refugees? est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.

Environmentalists are deeply concerned by the Kenyan government’s move to allow boundary changes to protected forests, watering down the powers of conservation authorities.

The forest conservation and management (amendment) bill 2021 seeks to delete clause 34(2) from the 2016 act, which makes it mandatory for authorities to veto anyone trying to alter forest boundaries. The same clause protects forests from actions that put rare, threatened or endangered species at risk.

Tabled by the National Assembly’s procedure committee, the amendment would weaken the role of Kenya Forest Service, mandated to protect all public forests, allowing politicians to decide who can change forest boundaries.

In an election year, many have read the proposal, due to be debated at the end of the month, as politically motivated.

The committee’s memorandum to MPs said current laws “unnecessarily limit the rights of any Kenyan to petition parliament” as provided for in the constitution.

But conservationists have said this would be a serious setback for the country, which was seeking to increase forest cover to 10% of land by 2022, up from 7.4%. Forest authorities said the move puts endangered species at risk, as well as clearing the way for unscrupulous individuals to encroach into forests that, according to a 2014 government paper, have been shrinking at a rate of 50,000 hectares (124,000 acres) annually.Advertisement

“I am astounded any right-thinking person would consider submitting or supporting such an amendment,” said Paula Kahumbu, chief executive at WildlifeDirect, a conservation NGO. “It will open the door to forest destruction after decades of hard work by agencies, communities and NGOs to increase forest cover, as committed to in our constitution. One can only read mischief in such a motion, with elections around the corner.”

Kahumbu added: “At risk are indigenous forests and the biodiversity therein, the integrity of our water towers, generation of hydropower and productivity of our farms. The environmental experts of Kenya and the conservation community call on all citizens of Kenya to reach out to their MPs to wholeheartedly and aggressively reject this heinous bill.”

She said the amendment would destroy the legacy of Wangari Maathai, the late environmentalist and Nobel Peace prize winner, who was once attacked and seriously wounded as she led a tree-planting exercise in Nairobi’s Karura Forest.

In a tweet, Christian Lambrechts, executive director at Rhino Ark said: “Considering what Kenya has lost in the past, any change that weakens, rather than strengthens the mechanisms to protect our forests, is ill-advised.”

Rhino Ark has been spearheading an initiative to put up electric fences around Kenya’s public forests to hamper poachers and illegal incursions.

Dickson Kaelo, head of the Kenya Wildlife Conservancies Association, said the move by parliament is intended to “give legitimacy” to those who would destroy Kenya’s biodiversity.

“This is a well-calculated move to open the doors for forest excisions and allocation to private persons for development, and may even be a means to normalise current excisions. It is a threat to our forests coming at a time when we have a low forest coverage and a high risk of climate crisis-induced vulnerabilities. We call upon parliament to reject the amendment,” said Kaelo.

Protecting forests from developers has been a daunting task in Kenya.

Last July, Joannah Stutchbury, a prominent environmental activist, was killed near her home in Nairobi after her protracted opposition to attempts by powerful businessmen to build on Kiambu forest near the capital, Nairobi.

President Uhuru Kenyatta has yet to fulfil a promise to catch her killers.

World Opinions +theguardian.com

L’article Planned change to Kenya’s forest act threatens vital habitats, say activists est apparu en premier sur World Opinion | Alternative Média.