W. African bloc backs '30 by 30' biodiversity pledge

West African nations vowed Monday to protect 30 percent of their land and seas by 2030, a cornerstone pledge of high-stakes biodiversity talks in Canada next month.

Monday's announcement was made at UN climate talks in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, where dozens of world leaders are facing calls to urgently beat back carbon emissions.

Follow-up talks on biodiversity in December in Montreal -- dubbed COP15 -- will urge governments to better protect nature, with a broad aim to agree on a new, more ambitious 2030 framework.

A key part that blueprint is a global commitment to set aside at least 30 percent of both land and territorial waters as protected zones by the end of the decade, in order to rescue Earth's animals and plants from human destruction.

On Monday, a top Nigerian official said the 15 countries from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) would join the pledge.

"The African continent is more vulnerable to climate change," said Hassan Musa, special assistant on environment and climate change to Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari.

"I'm proud to inform you all that the ECOWAS countries have reached a consensus to support the ambitious target of protecting 30 percent of our lands and oceans by 2030."

Africa's booming population and rapid urbanisation rate make it particularly vulnerable to biodiversity loss which, as in the rest of the world, is largely driven by human activity, according to the IPBES science advisory panel for biodiversity.

- 'Low end of what we need' -

There is no official tally of how many countries have committed to the 30 by 30 pledge, though the High Ambition Coalition group led by the European Union says over 100 countries formally support the target.

There are also no mechanisms in place to ensure countries are implementing the goal, and no legal obligations to follow through on promises.

But some are pushing for more firm commitments to be enshrined in the new biodiversity framework to be discussed in Montreal.

Some countries, including Costa Rica and Colombia, have said they have already achieved the goal of protecting 30 percent of oceans and land.

Some experts argue that up to 50 percent of nature should be protected, saying 30 percent is the bare minimum.

The US Special Envoy for Biodiversity and Water Resources, Monica Medina, on Monday urged countries to go beyond the 30 percent target at COP15.

"Thirty percent is on the low end of what we need," she said.

The COP15 meeting will gather the 196 signatories of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which does not include the United States.

Africa facing climate impact 'nightmare': Kenyan president
Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt (AFP) Nov 7, 2022 - The crushing impacts of climate change are already a "living nightmare" for people across Africa, Kenyan President William Ruto told world leaders at UN talks on Monday.

The UN climate Conference of the Parties talks in Egypt, billed as the "African COP", are set to be dominated by calls from developing countries that rich polluters pay for the harm their emissions have already caused, known as "loss and damage".

"Africa contributes less than three percent of the pollution responsible for climate change, but it's most severely impacted by the ensuing crisis," Ruto said.

The worst drought in 40 years is gripping Kenya and the wider Horn of Africa region, threatening millions with starvation -- with the UN warning Somalia is on the brink of a famine for the second time in just over a decade.

Some 2.5 million livestock have died in Kenya this year alone, Ruto said, causing economic losses of more than $1.5 billion.

Poorer countries successfully fought to have the issue of loss and damage officially put on the COP27 agenda -- despite reluctance over the issue from richer nations, wary of open-ended compensation for the damage caused by climate-induced natural disasters.

But observers caution that this is only a first step towards what developing nations hope will be a specific fund to help with climate impacts.

- 'Persisting distrust' -

"Loss and damage is not an abstract topic of endless dialogue," Ruto said, speaking on behalf of the Africa negotiating group.

"It is our daily experience and the living nightmare for millions of Kenyans, and hundreds of millions of Africans."

He said the country had had to reallocate funds budgeted for education and health for an emergency food relief programme for 4.3 million Kenyans, adding that "climate change is directly threatening our people's lives, health and future".

Wildlife has not been spared in the country rich with biodiversity.

"Carcasses of elephants, zebras, wildebeest and many other wild fauna litter our parks," he said, adding the government has spent $3 million on supplying feed and water to animals in distress in the last three months.

The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in February warned that tens of millions of Africans face a future marked by drought, disease and displacement due to global heating.

Wealthy nations have failed to provide a pledged $100 billion a year from 2020 to developing nations to help them build resilience and green their economies, reaching just $83 billion according to the UN.

This is a "major cause for persisting distrust", Ruto said.

But he stressed that the continent presented huge economic opportunities and a chance to curb emissions and announced an African summit focusing on climate action next year.

"Africa's vast tracts of land, deep treasures of diverse natural resources, tremendous untapped renewable energy potential, and a youthful, dynamic, and skilled workforce. constitute the continent's irresistible credentials," he said.

Germany's Scholz warns against fossil fuel 'renaissance'
Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt (AFP) Nov 7, 2022
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday urged COP27 participants not to lose sight of renewable energy targets despite the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. "There must not be a worldwide renaissance of fossil fuels," Scholz said in a speech at the climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. "And for Germany I can say: there will not be one," he said. Europe's largest economy has been squeezed hard as Russian energy imports have dwindled and prices have risen following the outbreak of ... read more