AU requests AUDA-NEPAD for technical, financial support for Ethiopia’s COP32 preparations
Ethiopia has raised its concerns regarding lack of African consensus on the nexus of climate change and security, particularly pertaining to transboundary waters and security.
The AU has disclosed documents compiling the decisions, declarations and resolutions made during the 39th Assembly of the Union held last February in Addis Ababa. The documents herald all the issues raised and decisions made during the last summit. Several issues regarding Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan and other issues were detailed in them
They reveal Ethiopia’s reservations regarding lack of a nexus between climate change and peace and security, particularly pertaining to AU’s frameworks towards transboundary waters.
“Interpretative declarations entered by Ethiopia and South Africa, expressing their understanding of the lack of a nexus between climate change and peace and security, and noting that there is no common African position recognizing such a nexus, and that the issue of peace and security falls beyond the mandate of the Summit,” reads one document.
It also discloses the AU’s efforts to support Ethiopia’s preparations to host the 32nd UN climate summit in Addis Ababa in November 2027.
The African Union has requested the AU Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) to provide technical and financial support to Ethiopia.
“The AU recognises the strategic importance of COP32 for Africa’s climate priorities. AU requested AUDA-NEPAD to provide technical and financial support, through its climate and other programs, as well as mobilizing complementary funding from other sources for the hosting of COP 32, including other African institutions, development partners, and member states throughout the COP32 cycle,” reads the document.
Nardos Bekele, CEO of AUDA-NEPAD, also tweeted last month that the organization is working with the Ethiopian Ministry of Planning and Development on “mobilising innovative climate finance, advancing carbon markets readiness, and shaping a strong continental narrative on adaptation and just transition.”
She revealed that talks are underway to establish an AUDA-NEPAD national office in Ethiopia.
Further, the AU also commended PM Abiy Ahmed for his initiative to establish the Africa Climate Innovation Compact (ACIC) and the Africa Climate Facility (ACF), with the objective of mobilizing USD 50 billion to implement 1,000 African-designed climate solutions by 2030.
Africa needs over three trillion dollars to meet its climate goals by 2030, but has received only US 30 billion between 2021 and 2022.
The document also states that most African countries invest less than one percent of their budgets in nutrition, leaving the sector vulnerable to shifting external aid; and that with an estimated USD 34 billion needed over the next decade to deliver proven nutrition interventions in Sub-Saharan Africa, there is an urgent need to reimagine nutrition financing systems that are both sustainable and resilient.
Among the other issues mentioned in the documents is the troubled implementation of the Pretoria Agreement, which ended the two-year war in northern Ethiopia in 2022.
The assembly “encouraged the AU Panel of elders on Pretoria Agreement to continue engaging with the Parties and strategic partners to support the implementation of the Permanent Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA), particularly in areas such as DDR and internally displaced persons (IDPs) return.”
Regarding Somalia, the AU stated it “strongly condemns and rejects all acts of external actors, in particular the unilateral recognition of the “so-called Republic of Somaliland” by Israel in the strongest terms and calls for its immediate revocation.”
AU also recommended member states and the High-Level Panel to expand the Peace Fund endowment by more than double to one billion dollars by diversifying sources of funding and establishing a replenishment mechanism.
