Climate Change and Renewable Energy Conference

Preamble

The international conference “Climate Change and Renewable Energy Week” held in Lome, Togo from the 11th to 15th February 2009. The conference was organized by Jeunes Volontaires pour I’Environnement (JVE), ENDA Tier Monde and the Togo Ministry of Mining, Energy and Water in partnership with Friends of the Earth Norway. The event attracted over 100 participants from the different countries in West Africa and Europe. The participants were representatives of governmental organizations, NGOs, CSOs, business/private sector, student bodies, academic institutions and the media. The event was declared open by the Togolese Minister of Mining, Energy and Water.

The conference was organized with the objectives to create a regional platform for stakeholders in the West African Sub-region to influence policy on climate change; contribute to the international climate change negotiations; and to popularize the use of the diversity of renewable energy products available in the West African sub-region. The event featured paper presentations, discussions, resolutions and exhibitions.

Observations

The participants at the Climate Change and Renewable Energy Week observed that:

• Policy makers in West Africa are ignorant on climate change issues and are unable to represent the region effectively in international fora on climate change
• Members of local communities in the West African region are not well informed on climate change issues, thus they lack the capacity to cope with the impacts of climate change.
• Energy profile in West Africa shows low production and huge untapped potentials.
• The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol is not working for the region.
• Renewable energy projects are poorly funded by governments in West Africa
• There are not adequate policies in the region to mitigate climate change and enhance adaptation in the region. Existing policies are not properly implemented.
• Civil society in West Africa are poorly represented in the international climate change negotiation forum especially the Conference of Parties (COP) meeting of the United Nations
• Poor technological development in the West African region which is hindering the development of renewable energy

Resolutions

The participants of the conference thus resolve as follows:

• That stakeholder in the West African region should create awareness on climate change among policy makers and local communities in region. They are particularly encouraged to befriend the media to achieve this objective.
• Called on the need for policy makers in West Africa to be educated on the issue on climate change
• To review existing policy on renewable energy and to scale-up renewable energy market in West Africa
• Called on the need to hold regular meetings comprising of stakeholders from the countries in the region to discuss climate change and strategize to make input into international discourse on climate change
• Participants called on governments in West Africa to commit adequate funds for climate change programmes/projects and for the development of renewable energy technologies
• NGOs should work in partnership with governments in their countries to combat climate change in the region
• Governments and other stakeholders in the region should popularize the use of renewable energy and build technological capacity in their citizens to develop renewable energy technologies
• Governments should commit adequate fund to embark on collaborative research to combat climate change impacts and develop renewable energy technology
• Relevant government agencies in the region should design a mechanism to send early warning to farmers at the event of hash weather condition resulting from climate change
• Governments should support vulnerability evaluation study in the West African region
• Governments in the region should integrate climate change regulatory frameworks into national policy to manage conflict arising from the use of natural resources
• Stakeholders in the West African sub-region should embark on activities that will enable them to make inputs into the post-Kyoto document
• Stakeholders should build a network on climate change in the region
  

Conference Outcome

The conference led to the formation of network of African organizations. The network was unanimously named West African Coalition on Climate Change (WACCC). WACCC will comprise of organizations from countries in West Africa. Countries in West Africa are expected to form their national coalition on climate change and join the WACCC, which will in turn join the Climate and Development Network currently being managed by ENDA-TM. JVE will coordinate WACCC. To be eligible for membership of WACCC, intending members must first be members of the associated national coalitions. All organizations that participated in the JVE conference in Lome are automatically members of WACCC.