The 12th Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA-XII) commenced today in Abidjan, bringing together a diverse coalition of key stakeholders to confront the urgent challenges posed by climate change across the continent.

Held alongside the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) special meeting ahead of COP 29 in Baku, CCDA-XII aims to unite leaders, policymakers, experts, and advocates to explore innovative solutions, share best practices, and forge strategic partnerships that will accelerate Africa’s transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient future.

In his opening address, Côte d’Ivoire’s Minister of Environment, Jacques Assahoré Konan, underscored the magnitude of the climate crisis, stating, “Combating climate change is the greatest challenge humanity has faced in the last century.” He highlighted the disproportionate impact on Africa, which contributes less than 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions yet bears the brunt of climate-related consequences. “Adaptation to these adverse effects is a major concern for Africa, and securing adequate financing is key. The theme of this conference, ‘Financing Climate Adaptation and Resilience in Africa,’ and the expertise gathered here offer a beacon of hope for the continent,” he said.

Hanan Morsy, ECA Deputy Executive Secretary and Chief Economist, emphasized the critical shortfall in climate finance. “Despite the 2009 pledge of $100 billion annually, only a fraction of the estimated $1.3 trillion needed to support global climate resilience has been mobilized. The decline in global climate finance for adaptation, rather than the expected doubling by 2025, poses a serious threat to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and existing resilience investments,” she noted.

Hanan Morsy called for innovative financing solutions that do not exacerbate Africa’s debt burden, leveraging the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to channel investments into adaptation efforts. She also stressed the importance of developing strong public-private partnerships and engaging stakeholders at all levels to scale up adaptation investments.

Josefa Correia Sacko, Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy, and Sustainable Environment (ARBE) at the African Union Commission, highlighted the immense financial requirements for Africa’s climate commitments, stating, “African countries will need approximately USD 3 trillion to fully implement their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by 2030. However, securing adequate financing for climate action remains a significant challenge. That is why we are gathered here today—to deliberate on key actions, and strategies, and to solidify Africa’s position as we assess the outcomes of COP 28 and chart our course forward for COP 29 in November this year in Baku, Azerbaijan.”

She further emphasized the need for unity in the continent’s approach, saying, “I urge all of us to speak with one collective voice as we prepare for COP 29. Our focus must be on mobilizing climate finance at scale for Africa, with a clear emphasis on securing grants rather than loans or debt. We must prioritize financing for impactful projects and ensure that carbon markets work in our favour.”

Antony Nyong, Director of Climate Change and Green Growth at the African Development Bank highlighted the need for recognition and compensation for Africa’s significant contributions to global mitigation efforts. “Our priority must be fostering climate-resilient development while balancing adaptation with climate-informed investments. However, this can only be achieved with adequate financing, technology transfer, and capacity building, in accordance with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities,” he stated.

CCDA-XII will focus on critical themes such as climate finance, green growth, climate justice, and regional cooperation. The conference provides a vital platform for African leaders, policymakers, and experts to collaborate on strategies that will guide the continent towards a sustainable and resilient future.

As CCDA-XII unfolds, it is expected to catalyze bold actions and commitments that will not only address Africa’s immediate climate challenges but also secure a prosperous and sustainable future for generations to come.

CCDA is convened annually ahead of the annual global Conference of the Parties (COP) by a coalition of partnerships known as ClimDev-Africa which includes the African Union Commission, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), and the African Development Bank (AfDB). CCDA is organized in collaboration with the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) and other regional institutions. This year, it is being hosted by the Government of Côte d’Ivoire from August 30 to September 2, 2024.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

On August 30, a ceremony of exchange of letters was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation on a number of joint projects including the Chinese government’s provision of emergency humanitarian food aid to Zambia and assistance in the construction of mealie meal milling plants and the new building of the Zambian Foreign Ministry. Chargé d’Affaires of the Chinese Embassy, Wang Sheng and Permanent Secretary of the Zambian Foreign Ministry,  Hope Situmbeko attended the ceremony.

Mr. Wang said that the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will be held recently in Beijing. This marks another grand reunion of the China-Africa big family. President Xi Jinping will once again meet with President Hakainde Hichilema to draw a blueprint for the future of China-Zambia relations. China will provide emergency humanitarian food aid to Zambia worth 20 million RMB and conduct the feasibility study of milling plant projects. These are important achievements made by the two governments before the Summit, as well as concrete actions to implement the consensus of the two heads of state and the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind proposed by President Xi. China will work with the Zambian side to take the Summit as an opportunity to promote the revitalization of TAZARA and cooperation in the sectors of agriculture, mining, energy and water conservancy to bring tangible benefits to the two peoples.

Ms. Situmbeko said that over the past 60 years since the establishment of the diplomatic relations, China has provided long-term assistance to Zambia’s economic and social development, and the friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries have continued to consolidate and deepen. China’s assistance to Zambia in the fight against drought once again demonstrates the people-oriented nature of the comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership, for which Zambia is deeply grateful. Zambia will carry forward the all-weather friendship and looks forward to more practical outcomes during the Summit to help with Zambia’s economic transformation.

The ceremony was covered by Xinhua News Agency, China Media Group, ZANIS, ZNBC, Daily Mail and other medias.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Republic of Zambia.

The Guinean authorities must immediately carry out an impartial, independent and transparent investigation into the enforced disappearance of civil society activists Oumar Sylla and Mamadou Billo Bah, who have now been missing for more than seven weeks, said Amnesty International and 17 Guinean human rights organizations on the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.

Since the arrest of the two National Front for the Defence of the Constitution (FNDC) activists on 9 July, their fate and whereabouts remain unknown, amid a worsening crackdown on dissident voices. Mohammed Cissé, a fellow FNDC activist who was arrested with the pair but released the day after has told Amnesty International that they were taken by security forces and subjected to acts of torture.

“We call on the Guinean authorities to shed full light on the circumstances of these enforced disappearances, as well as on information about torture and other forms of ill-treatment. The findings of this investigation must be made public and all those suspected of being criminally responsible must be brought to justice in fair trials before ordinary civilian courts. The unbearable uncertainty inflicted on the relatives of the activists as to their fate must end”, said the human rights organizations.

“Guinea is party to most of the international legal instruments relating to human rights, in particular the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The authorities therefore have an obligation to protect, respect and ensure respect for the human rights of all citizens. Enforced disappearances constitute a crime under international law. We call on the Guinean authorities to follow the example of other states in West and Central Africa by ratifying, without making any reservation, the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.” 

Oumar Sylla, national coordinator of the FNDC, was arrested on the evening of 9 July at his home along with Mamadou Billo Bah, head of the collective’s branches and mobilization, and Mohamed Cissé, another member of the organization. According to Mohamed Cissé, they were arrested by people he identified as gendarmes and then detained by members of the special forces on the island of Kassa, off the coast of the capital. He was violently beaten for hours and alleges that all three were subjected to acts of torture during interrogation. Once released, Mohammed Cisse suffered multiple injuries and had to be hospitalised for several days.

In a communique issued on 17 July, the public prosecutor’s office of the Conakry Court of Appeal stated that the activists had not been arrested by the authorities and that they were not being held in any of the country’s prisons, claiming that they had been abducted. Since then, the authorities have remained silent, and no investigation has been opened. 

‘The enforced disappearances of Oumar Sylla, known as Foniké Menguè, and Mamadou Billo Bah are outrageous. The authorities cannot shirk their responsibility to conduct a serious investigation into what could constitute an ongoing crime under international law in our country,’ said Halimatou Camara, one of the two activists’ lawyers. 

Background

Oumar Sylla, also known as Foniké Menguè, is the national coordinator of the FNDC, a civil society movement critical of the transitional military authorities, which was dissolved by the government in 2022 and continues to advocate a return to civilian rule.

On 9 July, the day of his arrest, he had called on social networks for people to wear red clothes on 11 July to ‘protest against the closure of the media and the high cost of living, particularly electricity shortages and all the blunders of the transition’.

In recent years, Oumar Sylla and Mamadou Billo Bah have been arbitrarily detained several times for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. Oumar Sylla was arbitrarily detained under the Alpha Condé regime, then after the National Rally Committee for Development (CRND) came to power, from July 2022 to May 2023. Mamadou Billo Bah was also detained from January 2023 to May 2023.

For several months now, the Guinean authorities have been stepping up their crackdown on peaceful dissent, with the suspension of media outlets, restrictions on internet access and the brutal repression of demonstrations, including the killing of at least 47 people during protests between September 2021 and April 2024 according to Amnesty International’s latest report.

Signatories

Agir pour le Droit Féminin (ADF)

Association des Bloggeurs de Guinée (ABLOGUI)
Assistance Justice aux Droits des enfants et Femmes (AJDF)
Amnesty International
Avocats Sans Frontières Guinée (ASF Guinée)
Association des Victimes, Parents et Amis du 28 Septembre (AVIPA)
Centre Africain pour la Formation et l’Information des Droits Humains et Environnement (CAFIDHE)
Coalition des Femmes Défenseures des Droits Humains
Conseil Consultatif des Enfants et Jeunes (CCEJG)
Coordination des Organisations de Défense des Droits de l’Homme (CODDH)
Femmes Développement et Droits Humains en Guinée (F2DH)
Les Mêmes Droits pour Tous (MDT)
Organisation Africaine du Développement Durable et d’Environnement (OADDE)
Organisation Guinéenne de Défense des Droits de l’Homme et du Citoyen (OGDH)
Regards des Femmes
Réseau National des Organisations de Lutte contre la Traite des Êtres Humains et les Pratiques Assimilées (RENOLTEHPA)
Women of Africa, Femmes d’Afrique (WAFRICA)
Women Hope Guinée
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Amnesty International.

A UN report warned today that the continued lack of accountability and years of impunity enjoyed by those behind the human rights violations and abuses committed in the Libyan city of Tarhuna between 2013 and 2022 risk fuelling more instability and further division in the country.

The report by the Human Rights Service of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and the UN Human Rights Office describes how the Al-Kaniyat, an armed element which emerged in 2011, later exercised brutal control over Tarhuna, a city of some 150,000 people 90 km southeast of Tripoli.

The report details killings, disappearances, sexual violence, abductions, torture, ill-treatment, forced displacement and other gross human rights violations and abuses, as well as serious violations of international humanitarian law committed by the Al-Kaniyat between 2013 and 2022.

“Years have passed since these terrible violations were committed, but the perpetrators have still not been brought to justice, nor have truth, justice or reparations been delivered to victims and their families,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk. “The impunity must end – there must be accountability in accordance with international due process and fair trial standards.”

The failure to deliver justice has led, in some instances, to renewed violence and repeated violations, fomenting further grievances in Tarhuna and surrounding areas, the report states.

“Leaving the root causes and drivers of conflict unaddressed will only serve to keep fuelling toxic cycles of violence and revenge between communities,” added the acting Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya and Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Political Affairs Stephanie Koury.

In November 2022, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court announced that further applications for arrest warrants were being submitted in relation to the situation in Libya.

The report recommends a comprehensive transitional justice and reconciliation process, with meaningful truth-seeking measures and effective reparations for victims – including legal aid and mental health support and guarantees of non-repetition, designed in consultation with those directly affected. It also calls for robust accountability measures, through investigations and prosecutions of alleged perpetrators in line with international standards.

The report states that the Al-Kaniyat’s integration into the former Government of National Accord (GNA) and later the Libyan National Army (LNA) has been a significant barrier to accountability and justice. As a result, it adds, some residents have been hesitant to get involved in investigations and report crimes for fear of reprisals.

The report complements and builds on the 2022 findings of the Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya on the atrocities committed in Tarhuna, including the discovery of mass graves containing hundreds of human remains, most of them handcuffed, blindfolded and bearing signs of torture, and of the possibility that there could be up to 100 more such sites.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).