Building consensus on the road to Copenhagen

The UN sponsored Climate Change summit scheduled for December in Copenhagen, will take place in the next 73 days. The summit will chart a new roadmap for a comprehensive pact designed to culminate into a consolidated international response to climate change. Ahead of this crucial summit, President Paul Kagame has come out strongly to voice Africa’s position, calling for a concrete plan that incorporates the continent’s view, since we, in Africa, are the most affected. Majority of the continent’s inhabitants are oblivious to this critical debate about climate change which has been left largely to the interpretation of the western world, whose proposed solutions have been dominant. This is in spite of research which proves that Africa, more than any other continent or sub-continent will face dire ecological shocks if the on-going carbon emissions to the atmosphere are not checked. However, Africa’s dilemma in tackling the negative impact of climate change has been the lack of a concrete proposal for action, such as the one articulated by President Kagame during the special UN session on Climate Change. The President proposed a strategy for ensuring a harmonised and equitable carbon trading regime, which would benefit all nations and not necessarily the developed ones, as the case currently. The President suggests a ceiling for carbon emission per person /per year for all nations. Here Kagame predicts a win-win solution for the lowering of emissions since all countries will have an incentive for compliance. A solution for breaking the current untenable impasse on a consensus for a new workable deal. Based on this proposal put forward to the special UN climate change summit, Africans whose voices have previously been muted, now have a solid framework for re-engagement with the rest of the world. There are only a few remaining days for the world’s leadership to work on a sustainable plan to save mother earth. Ends

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Building consensus on the road to Copenhagen