In climate change mitigation, Africa is largely on its own

• Mozambique was paid US$6.4 million for reducing 1.28 million tonnes of carbon emissions since 2019.
• Africa’s 1.3 billion population is threatened by the effects of climate change which are accelerating practices that are leading to more land degradation.
• An estimated 43 per cent of Mozambique’s overall territory is covered by natural forests but they have been severely degraded over the years. 

In October 2021, Mozambique received the first-ever payment from the World Bank for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+). 

Through the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), Mozambique was paid US$6.4 million for reducing 1.28 million tonnes of carbon emissions since 2019. This was the first of four payments under the country’s Emission Reductions Payment Agreement (ERPA) with the FCPF.

This first step could unlock up to US$50 million for the country to reduce up to 10 million tonnes of C02 emissions in Mozambique’s Zambézia Province by 2024.

Read: Forest products on the spotlight – Tanzania

Mozambique submitted an official monitoring report which confirmed the emission reductions to receive the payment. The report was verified by an independent third party between September 2020 and May 2021.  The payments are a reward for efforts aimed at reducing carbon emissions by tackling forest degradation and deforestation. 

Idah Pswarayi-Riddihough, World Bank Country Director for Mozambique said that preventing deforestation and increasing restoration efforts for those that have already been damaged could ensure a safer, climate-resilient and prosperous future for the communities in the country. 

She added that restoration efforts are costly and payment agreements like the REDD+ ones could be the game-changer since they provide the much-needed finances to improve sustainable forest management and resilience. 

While restoration efforts are costly, they cannot be equated to the losses the country, and indeed the continent suffers due to climate change.

In acknowledgement, the World Bank recognised that the payment was for Mozambique’s contribution such as the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices, monitoring the use of forest resources or restoration of degraded land as emission reduction activities. 

Continent-wide, this is funding that may never be received by many countries despite the fact that the reason Africa is suffering is because of the self-interests of the world’s biggest polluters. Africa’s 1.3 billion population is threatened by the effects of climate change which are accelerating practices that are leading to more land degradation through deforestation and unsustainable agricultural practices. 

At the just-concluded COP26, Africa received the short end of the stick yet again as the negotiations veered off permanent and workable solutions for the continent’s present predicament. 

The deliberations from the Glasgow event show that Africa has no option but to finance its adaptation with or without the biggest polluters’ US$100 billion commitment. 

Africa has to become innovative to mobilize financing with or without the pledges from the rich countries. The funding, which was due in 2020, has been pushed back to 2023 showing the lethargy the rest of the world has in addressing the real and current threat facing Africa. 

By virtue of having the poorest countries in the world, COP26 was another betrayal to Africa. Through no fault of their own, hundreds of millions of Africans are in danger of starvation, displacement and death due to the ever-mutating climate change effects. Unless Africa finds its own solutions, it is largely on its own. 

Barbados’s Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley who broke off from the usual pleasantries at COP26 said that world leaders have to try harder to make it a reality for poor nations to live without fear of looming death brought on by the increase in temperatures. 

Challenging the leaders not to fail the people who elected them, Mottley asked if the leaders were so blinded and hardened that they could no longer appreciate the cries of humanity. All present were silent and dumbfounded.  Only time will tell if Prime Minister Mottley’s address pricked their consciences.

Local actors and communities will receive the majority of the benefits under a benefit-sharing plan they have prepared to ensure that all who have contributed to the results will benefit. 

By so doing, stakeholders will continue handling natural resources and restoration of degraded areas through the promotion of community management. Under the plan, they will also be stimulating nutrition-sensitive, conservation-friendly and climate-smart farming models. 

Mozambique’s Minister of Land and Environment, Ivete Joaquim Maibaze, said that the agreement will see Mozambique securing long-term finance under REDD+ to provide alternatives to deforestation while also rewarding climate change mitigation efforts towards reducing poverty and managing natural resources sustainably. 

This, he added, will help meet the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) targets. 

An estimated 43 per cent of Mozambique’s overall territory is covered by natural forests but they have been severely degraded over the years. 

The FCPF is a global partnership of governments, Indigenous Peoples’ organizations, civil society and businesses focused on reducing emissions from forest degradation and deforestation. 

FCPF was launched in 2008 and has worked with 47 developing countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean. 17 donors have made contributions and commitments totalling US$1.3 billion.

Read: Sweet deal as Africa secures US$22.5Bn for climate action