The need to make Africa’s case in the global climate debate
The 2022 Forum Facts & Figures, ‘The Road to COP27: Making Africa’s Case in the Climate Debate’, highlights the need for greater consideration of Africa’s specific position within the global debate on climate change.
Launching exactly six months ahead of COP27 in Egypt, and immediately following the COP15 of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Côte d’Ivoire, the 2022 Forum Facts & Figures provide a comprehensive analysis of the challenges and prospects of the global climate crisis from Africa’s perspective.
Commenting on the data, Mo Ibrahim, Founder and Chair of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, said: “As the least industrialised continent, Africa has contributed the least to the global climate crisis, yet it is suffering the most from its consequences. Thanks to its immense ecological and mineral resources, Africa has the potential to be at the heart of a sustainable future for both the continent and the world. As we now head towards COP27, hosted on the continent, it is vital that Africa’s unique position is better understood and taken in account. Leaving Africa out of the equation not only hinders efficient climate action, but it also threatens global development and security prospects.”
Africa Trade Exchange (ATEX) platform launched to facilitate trading under the AfCFTA
The Africa Trade Exchange (ATEX), a business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce platform, was launched during the official opening of the 54th Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development (CoM2022) on 16 May in Dakar, Senegal. The launch took place in the presence of Senegal’s president, Macky Sall, who is also the Chairperson of the African Union.
The platform was developed by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), in collaboration with the African Union and the AfCFTA Secretariat to serve as a B2B and business-to-government (B2G) digital marketplace. ATEX will enable pooled procurement of basic commodities to ensure countries have access to scarce supplies in a transparent manner.
ATEX is connected to the digital ecosystem to support the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement and provide buyers and member States with quality products from verified suppliers in a more efficient way at average cost, thereby improving cross-border trade.
UN and partners detail the abundance and promise of diverse “Unconventional” water resources
UN and partner water experts say it’s time to increase the tapping of Earth’s diverse and abundant unconventional water resources – the millions of cubic kilometres of water in deep land-based and seabed aquifers, in fog and icebergs, in the ballast holds of thousands of ships, and elsewhere.
A new book, Unconventional Water Resources, published by Springer and compiled by experts at UN University’s Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), the UNU Institute for Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and of Resources (UNU-FLORES), and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), says these potential supplies can help many of the 1 in 4 people on Earth who face shortages of water for drinking, sanitation, agriculture and economic development.
Based on the most up to date information and data, and with contributions from renowned scientists, experts and practitioners worldwide, the book showcases the potential of different types of unconventional water resources – tapping offshore and onshore deep groundwater, for example, reusing water, moving water physically to water-scarce areas, and more.
