Accra, Ghana 4-5 May 2023: The African Parliamentary Network for Climate Action (APNCA) organized a capacity building workshop for parliamentarians, in collaboration with the Climate Vulnerable Forum Global Parliamentary Group (CVF GPG), the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), Regional Programme Energy Security Climate Change in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Global Renewables Congress (GRC) and the Institute for Climate Sustainable Cities (ICSC). The workshop aimed to strengthen parliamentarians’ support for energy transition in Africa and enhance their role in the climate action agenda leading up to COP28.
The event commenced with an opening address by the First Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana, Hon. Joseph Osei Owusu. He emphasized the increasing vulnerability of African countries to the consequences of climate change, highlighting missed opportunities for energy independence, green investment, and export prospects. Hon. Osei Owusu stressed the urgent need for effective mechanisms and frameworks to respond to and influence the climate change agenda at both national and regional levels. These responses should encompass comprehensive approaches that leverage renewable energy sources, energy efficiency, and sustainable energy infrastructure development. He called upon parliamentarians to utilize their functions in approving budgets, enacting laws, and conducting oversight to ensure government accountability and effectiveness.
The workshop addressed several key activities, including: African Priorities under the Shifting Geopolitics of Energy. A paper was presented emphasising the need for Africa to establish policy frameworks, modalities and partnerships towards effective just and inclusive energy transition in a manner that enhances sustainable socio-economic benefits for Africa; Legislative Action Plan for Climate Prosperity Plans The CVF/V20 has developed the Climate Prosperity Plans (CPP) program which seeks to respond to this challenge by designing actionable and bankable investment and implementation pathways to move from climate vulnerability to climate prosperity. The Legislative Plan of Action endeavours to ensure that CPPs are mainstreamed into all legislative action including law making, budgeting, representation and advocacy; Global Stocktake Processes ahead of COP28 The workshop examined the Global Stocktake, its modalities, procedures, and findings from the technical assessment phase, particularly in the energy and transport sectors. Africa’s priority was highlighted, emphasizing the need for policy space to achieve sustainable development goals through green development pathways. The session highlighted Africa’s overriding priority which focuses on securing policy space to achieve sustainable developmental goals in the immediate to medium-term using green development pathways; Accountability Summit for Parliamentarians at COP28 This session explored the roles of parliamentarians in promoting increased accountability to achieve commitments such as limiting temperature increases to 1.5°C, implementing the Sendai Framework to prevent and reduce disaster risk, and enhancing climate finance. The CVF GPG is organizing an Accountability Summit at COP28 to address these issues; The meeting also looked at an NDC Monitoring Framework for Parliamentary Oversight to ensure that the processes, programs and actions including budgets outlined in the NDCs are followed through by the executive. The meeting concluded with the finalization of the draft APNCA Network constitution.
The meeting was attended by members of parliament from Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Gambia, Senegal, Chad, Burundi, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Uganda, Malawi as well as from the African Union Commission, Climate Parliament, KAS and the CVF GPG.
