Zambia Rallies Africa for Common Voice at Climate Negotiations

On Thursday, the Zambian government called for closer collaboration among African countries and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in advancing mutual interests ahead of the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) slated for Egypt in November this year.

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The Minister of Green Economy and Environment Collins Nzovu said as chair of the African Group of Negotiators (AGN), Zambia was committed to ensuring Africa and the LDC Group work closely and advance their interests at the COP 27.

He said the African Group has historically worked with the LDC Group in advancing mutual interests in the negotiation process, noting that Zambia wanted to build on the long-standing tradition of strengthening the collaboration.

"I look forward to this meeting taking stock of the progress made to date in the international climate change negotiations, fully discuss key issues and challenges and the need to develop a plan of action with agreed priorities and positions for COP 27," he said.

He further called on developed countries to take leadership and remain committed to 45 percent emissions reductions by 2030 in order to ensure that the 1.5 degrees Celsius goal was kept alive regardless of the current geopolitical situation that the world faces.

The COP 27 will be held from Nov. 6 to 18 in Sharm-El-Sheikh, Egypt. It was originally expected to take place in November 2021 but was rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.This international meeting will have particular importance for the African peoples due to the consequences of climate change, which are already palpable in their daily lives.

"Despite having contributed the least to global warming and having the lowest emissions, Africa faces exponential collateral damage, posing systemic risks to its economies, infrastructure investments, water and food systems, public health, agriculture, and livelihoods," the African Development Bank recalled.