Forty Heads of State are expected at the Africa Action Summit, to be held on the sidelines of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP22) in Marrakech, Morocco, this week. The summit brings together the Conference of the Parties (COP22), the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, and the Parties to the Paris Agreement to make the roadmap for the implementation of the Paris Climate Change Agreement that entered into force on November 4. At least 80 ministers are also expected to attend the summit that is at the invitation of King Mohammed VI of Morocco. According to Nick Nuttall, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change spokesperson, the African leaders summit aims at adding fresh impetus to the initiatives and structural projects in efforts to mitigate effects of climate change on the continent. “It will be a very important meeting where issues of vulnerability and opportunities in climate change in Africa will be discussed. It will elaborate a sustainable development model that meets the aspirations of the African people,” he said. Thousands of delegates from UN member states are gathered in Marrakech to put in place measures for strengthening appropriate financial flows, a new technology framework and an enhanced capacity building framework as envisioned in the Paris Agreement. Rwanda makes case for HFC phase down Faustin Munyazikwiye, the director of climate change and international obligations at Rwanda Environment Management Authority, who spoke on behalf of the Minister for Natural Resources and the president of the 28th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol, Dr Vincent Biruta, told delegates that the step taken in Rwanda last month to phase down Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) could avoid nearly 0.5C by the end of the century, contributing a huge part in keeping within the 2C warming limit under the Paris Agreement. HFCs are super greenhouse gases used as coolants in refrigerators, air conditioners, and aerosol sprays. HFCs are the fastest growing greenhouse gas in much of the world, growing at the rate of 10-15 per cent per year, and are thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide. “Rwanda recognises the gains that would be made from phasing down HFCs, while transitioning to energy efficient appliances is the path forward for maximum climate benefits. To build on the momentum of the Kigali Amendment, Rwanda calls on all countries to support early and coordinated action on HFC phasedown and energy efficiency,” Munyazikwiye said. He said the Kigali Amendment is now widely recognised as the most significant climate mitigation step the world has ever taken, and it brings countries closer to keeping global warming below 1.5°C. Munyazikwiye said implementing energy efficiency improvements in cooling appliances during the HFC phasedown will provide even further climate benefits. A study conducted by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory shows that improving energy efficiency, in parallel with an HFC phasedown, can achieve an additional savings of 80 to 100 billion tonnes of CO2, nearly doubling the climate benefits of a phasedown alone. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
