Members of Parliament from across the African continent have advocated for bold, transformative action that ensures the continent takes its rightful place as a leader in global climate action.
In a joint statement, the lawmakers reaffirmed their unwavering commitment to climate resilience development in the face of escalating threats from extreme weather, food insecurity and water scarcity.
“We want to champion the nature-based solutions, making sure that we account and we also put into place our own traditional ways of dealing with climate change,” Joanah Mamombe, Vice Chairperson of Africa Network of Parliamentarians on Climate Change said.
The joint statement was read during the Africa Parliamentarians roundtable in Baku, Azerbaijan, during the ongoing climate talks.
Some of the MPs from Kenya who have been attending the ongoing talks include David Gikaria (Chair departmental committee Environment, Forestry, and Mining), among other legislators.
The network seeks to mobilise and align the efforts of African legislatures and parliamentarians around the resolutions and recommendations on climate justice and equity as a means to influence the global climate agenda for a sustainable future for Africa.
The MPs said there is a need for inclusivity, equity and a commitment to leaving no one behind from across Africa.
They emphasised that there is a need to strengthen the resilience to climate change to ensure a sustainable, prosperous, and resilient future, not just for Africa, but for the world.
Negotiations have entered the second week and are marked by ministerial consultations that aim to break deadlocks and drive meaningful progress toward the goals of the talks.
Discussions with the ministerial pairings include that of finance where Australia and Egypt are leading discussions on the structure, quantum, and contributor base of the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG).
Others are mitigation where Norway and South Africa are exploring pathways to ambitious outcomes, and adaptation which is being midwifed by Ireland and Costa Rica who are focusing on advancing the Global Goal on Adaptation.
The Parliamentarians said they expect from the ongoing negotiations to have equitable access to climate finance.
They called for fair mobilization and distribution of climate finance to support Africa, badly hit by the impacts of climate change.
At the negotiations, Africa is demanding $1.3 billion annually to address the impacts of climate change.
The lawmakers challenged the executives of respective countries to bridge the climate finance gap by funding some of the projects using their own revenues.
They said there is a need for transparency, with priority being given to the vulnerable nations through the support on the loss and damage finance.
The lawmakers said they will strengthen their legislative and oversight role.
They said they will put in place a legislative framework and an oversight mechanism to ensure that the MPS will ensure that the executive is held to account.
The lawmakers pledged to find innovative ways to fund some of the initiatives as well as the harnessing of artificial intelligence for climate action.
They said if used responsibly, artificial intelligence can advance climate action through better data modeling and also decision-making, ensuring that there's inclusivity and alignment with the development, of the sustainable goals.