48 African Countries Vow To Address Climate Change

Forty-eight African countries have articulated their commitment to address climate change and human mobility challenges in Africa as well as leveraging its opportunities for sustainable development, through the Kampala Ministerial Declaration on Migration, Environment and Climate Change, KDMECC. This was agreed upon during the Conference of States on the continental expansion of the KDMECC held at the weekend in Nairobi, Kenya.

Africa is one of the most vulnerable continents to the impacts of climate change. The increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events resulting from climate change have direct consequences on migration. Last year alone, more than 7,5 million new internal disaster displacements were recorded on the continent (IDMC, Global Report on Internal Displacement 2023). Without any action, the World Bank predicts that up to 105 million people could become internal migrants within the continent.

“The need to address human mobility in the context of climate and environmental change has increased in global importance and urgency,” Mohammed Abdiker, IOM Regional Director for the East and Horn of Africa, explained.

“The Kampala Ministerial Declaration on Migration, Environment and Climate Change gives us the unprecedented opportunity to support Member State priorities in addressing the challenges whilst also leveraging migration for sustainable development.”

Originally signed and agreed upon by 15 African states in Kampala, Uganda, in July 2022, KDMECC addresses the nexus of human mobility and climate change in the whole of Africa. The Declaration is the first Member State –led, comprehensive and action-oriented framework to address climate-induced mobility in practical and effective ways.

Cooperation is put at the heart of the Kampala Declaration. Strengthening the regional and continental cooperation enables states to deliver concrete options for people on the frontlines of the climate crisis. In addition, significant efforts were made to include the voices of African youth who delivered key messages of the ‘Continental Youth Statement’ they had developed last week in Nairobi at the Youth Engagement Forum.

“The KDMECC-AFRICA will ensure that all voices, including those of youth, women, and persons in vulnerable situations, are the priority of the expanded declaration,” H.E Ms. Rebecca Amuge Otengo, Ambassador of Uganda to Ethiopia.

The conference which was co-hosted by the Governments of Kenya and Uganda with support from the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change also enabled African States to develop a common position ahead of the Africa Climate Summit and the Conference of Parties, COP 28.

The KDMECC-AFRICA is expected to be signed by Member States during the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi on 4 September 2023.

Guardian/Shakirat Sadiq