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NAIROBI. – The COP 26 UN Climate Change Conference underway in Glasgow, Scotland is yet to come up with concrete steps to advance Africa’s green agenda, campaigners said yesterday.

Mithika Mwenda, executive director of Nairobi-based green lobby, Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) decried lackluster attention to the climate crisis in the continent at COP 26.

“Our priority issues like climate finance have not been placed at the heart of discussions at Glasgow summit and lack of political will from major economies will impair climate action in Africa,” Mwenda said in a statement issued in Nairobi.

He said the plea by the African Group of Negotiators for robust adaptation financing and technology transfer is yet to be heeded at the Glasgow summit, hence threatening the continent’s realization of a climate-resilient future.

According to Mwenda, failure to recognize and act on the unfolding climate crisis in Africa at COP 26 would be detrimental to the survival of grassroots communities and their habitats.

He said declarations should be followed by tangible actions to strengthen the resilience of Africa’s indigenous communities, subsistence farmers, fishermen and pastoralists in the face of climate-related disasters.

Godwin Ojo, a Nigerian green advocate said the concerns of Africa’s grassroots communities that have borne the brunt of the climate crisis have not been adequately addressed at COP 26.

He said that an inclusive dialogue is urgent to address the financing gap that has derailed climate action in a continent already reeling from extreme weather events that have in turn escalated poverty, hunger, water stress and infectious diseases.

Ojo said the success of the Glasgow climate summit will be dependent on the industrialized north honouring carbon-cutting commitments alongside financial pledges to boost green transition in Africa.

Robert Muthami, a Nairobi-based climate policy analyst said that an inclusive and transparent process at COP 26 was a prerequisite to delivering climate justice in Africa.

Muthami said the Glasgow summit should prioritize the deployment of resources, technologies and best practices that could improve climate resilience in the continent.

He cited early warning, green energy innovations, harnessing of nature-based interventions as crucial to tame climatic shocks that pose an existential threat to Africa’s stability.

As the first major deal at the COP26 summit, leaders from more than 100 countries committed to ending deforestation by 2030, creating a lot of work for Brazil, Indonesia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Bolivia.

According to the World Resources Institute Global Forest Review, the four nations, which account for 85% of the world’s forests, are ranked as the top four countries for tropical primary forest loss.

Last Monday, COP26 issued a joint statement in Glasgow which outlined a US$19 billion agreement to invest in the protection and restoration of the forests.

Brazil holds about 60% of the Amazon rainforest, but deforestation has risen since 2004, with a research institute saying it was at its highest last year.

The Global Forest Watch reported that the annual loss of primary forest had been around half a million hectares over the past five years.

The problem with loss of trees and other vegetation is that it causes climate change, desertification, soil erosion, fewer crops, flooding, increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and a host of problems.

Poor forest management policies, including unrestricted logging, excessive harvesting of firewood and medicinal plants, and road construction, contribute to the problem. – XInhua/ANA