African Civil Society mobilizing towards Lima Climate Talks

The eyes of the world are fixed on Lima, Peru, as key actors for climate talks gather for the 2014 United Nations climate change conference.

The 20th Session of UNFCCC Conference of Parties (COP20) holding from December 1–12, 2014 is the supreme governing body of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Ahead of the event, the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) has been hosting a series of activities to create awareness on climate change issues whilst mobilizing African Civil Society for a common position for the upcoming Conference.

The 'PACJA Week of Action' is an Africa-wide annual initiative aimed at stimulating actions and reinforcing efforts to exercise the power of collective action ahead of COP 20.

In the course of the year, the action has been happening in 17 countries across Africa, which is also coming up with a road map to have a binding agreement at COP 21 in Paris.

The country-level activities play a critical role in consolidating the African Common Position in the Climate Talks.

PACJA shares in Africa's demand for the upcoming Climate talks which include long-term negotiations in setting a global budget and sharing it fairly as well as scaling up climate finance commitments from developed countries

To meet the need, developed countries are to increase their 2020 pledges to 40-50% below 1990 levels and the Post-2020 negotiations to work toward agreeing a global emissions budget that gives humanity a reasonable chance of limiting warming well below 1.50C – less than 605Gt CO2 more emissions.

Peru will receive about 15,000 people, which represent 194 countries and stakeholders from international organizations, civil society, private sector and several mass media, as well as presidents and ministers.

COP20 is a crucial moment to reach a climate change agreement in 2015 in Paris.

The Pan African Climate Justice Alliance is a continental coalition of Civil Society Organizations from diverse backgrounds in Africa, that aims at unifying and coordinating isolated civil society efforts on climate change advocacy in Africa, so as to ensure that pro-poor and people-centered response measures are given attention as governments in Africa seek to mainstream climate change into national poverty reduction and sustainable development strategies and actions.