REPORT OF THE AFRICAN PEOPLE’S COUTER COP IN SALY, SENEGAL

Climate Justice Counter COP African Climate Justice Collective

INTRODCTION

Africa has been experiencing climate crisis for several years and striving towards survival in the face of these crises. Africa produces less than 3% of the greenhouse gases (GHG), which is a small fraction compared to the pollution caused by the global North. The imbalance gave rise to the1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to concentrate efforts and find solutions to the climate issues across the globe.

Despite the restrictions, shrinking civic space and the failure of the UNFCCC COP, the APCC has thoroughly delved into the climate and ecological issues affecting the common people, giving voices to the voiceless, and creating a platform of unity where all affected groups including CSOs, academia, activists and community people to speak in one voice, against the injustice of the global north.

ABOUT THE APCC

From 7 to 10 of October 2024, the African Climate Justice Collective (ACJC) held the first physical African People’s Counter COP (APCC) in Saly, Senegal after three years of meeting, with the theme; “United Against Systematic Oppression and Climate Change in Africa”. The APCC was attended by  participants from social movements, grassroot communities, civil society organizations, academics, experts, workers, and others from 21 countries including, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Mauritius, Mauritania, Madagascar, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Togo and Zimbabwe.

Day 1: Day one of the APCC was the opening ceremony with opening speeches from key participants, facilitators and organizers. In her opening speech, Trusha Reddy, the representative of Womin, stated that Africa has been experiencing climate crisis for several years and striving towards survival in the crisis. According to her, Africa is not at the origin of climate crisis because Africa produces less than 3% of GHG, which is a small fraction compared to the pollution caused by the global north.

In a keynote address, Ibrahim Thiam who spoke on the topic, “Systemic Oppression and Climate Justice: The People’s Experience” stated that climate change Impacts countries differently and there are victims who can testify by these challenges. He cited issues of endemic poverty, limited access to financial resources, lack of water and other human related issues.

Speaking on behalf of the ACJC, Rumbidzai Mphalo stated that the APCC has gathered organizations that have hosted the peoples' assemblies in their communities and countries, so they can tell their stories and testimonies according to the realities and difficulties encountered in the local communities. She added that the ACJC is fighting for justice to proffer solutions to the crisis in Africa.

Executive Director of LSD, Aly MARIE SAGNE, who spoke at the opening ceremony, called on all organizations to stand firm in their fight against injustice, to fight for the right of the people to a healthy environment, supporting communities to demand reparations and pushing the government to respect the public good.

The opening day of the APCC also featured stories of resilience against environmental injustice from the communities represented, breakout sessions that looked at Solidarity building that highlights community struggles and panel discussions.

Day 2: The second day of the program started with a music presentation from APCC delegates, followed by a recap of the previous day and a layout of the day’s plan. It was closely followed by a Break Away session which looked at “Africa’s Climate and Ecological Hotspots: Opportunities for movement building”. Delegates examined possible social movements that can be developed to push the African ecological stories and climate injustices on the people.

Another break out session from Day 2 was the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA)  session on “Breaking Free from Methane: Africa’s Journey to a Zero Waste Continent”, which was co-hosted by Community Development Advocacy Foundation (CODAF), Center for Earth Works (CFEW), Zero Waste Senegal and Andasonia Green.

The third break out session of the APCC was on Climate Debt, and how the climate crisis relates to the climate debt, followed by presentations from the People’s Assembly actions from the different countries, including a presentation by Elvira Jordan on behalf of CODAF, on the People’s Assembly action in Beniboye, Isieayegbene and Odimodi Communities. This was also followed by presentations and stories of resilience from community representatives, including a presentation by Godwin Awese.

Day 3: The APCC started with a recap of the previous day then followed by a music/ poetry presentation. It also featured a meeting of all thematic areas of the APCC to aggregate their demands, to be added to the declarations. The sessions included Food Sovereignty, Just Transition, Climate Debt and Ecological Hotspots. 

The highlight of Day 3 was a joint session with the Women Climate Assembly and a Solidarity March for Climate Justice in Africa.

Day 4: The final day of the APCC was a press conference which presented the outcomes of the APCC and the demands made by the delegates. There was also an evaluation of the APCC 2024, looking at how the program can be improved in subsequent sessions.

The APCC ended with commitments by the delegates to use the declarations, followed by music, poems and solidarity songs.

KEY THEMES DISCUSSED AT THE APCC

1. Food Sovereignty which highlighted the need for strengthening of agroecological practices,  community forest and land management, pastoralism and local fishing practices especially for women who constitute the majority in the rural areas.

2. Just Transitions that interrogated labour considerations in energy sovereignty, the fast, fair and equitable fossil fuel phase-out, and system change as we move towards renewable energy adoption and green industrialization for the African continent.

3. Zero Waste Systems as an opportunity for African governments to incorporate decentralized waste management practices to reduce methane emissions.

4. Climate Finance with a focus on the financial architecture needed for the just transition, adaptation and mitigation and loss and damage fund. The call for ensuring that the most vulnerable communities affected by climate change have access to the funds.

DECLARATIONS

1. Climate Justice Now: We demand climate justice for Global South communities at the centre of the climate action. The Global North nations who have contributed the most to the climate crisis must lead the process of cutting emissions at source, and fund the needed transitions as payment for the climate debt owed to the Global South. We denounce all forms of false solutions to climate change such as REDD+, Net zero, and Geo-engineering which further entrench the climate crises.

2. End Fossil Fuel Extractions Across Africa NOW: All forms of fossil fuel exploration, extraction and production across Africa must be halted immediately. It is time to prioritize sustainable practices through people-centered renewable energy that protects our ecosystems and supports local economies. Fossil fuel companies must pay for the rehabilitation of degraded land, oceans and rivers resulting from hydrocarbon extraction.

3. Migration and Climate-Induced Displacement: With increasing climate crises, many Africans are forced to migrate, risking their lives in dangerous journeys to the Global North or becoming climate refugees within Africa leading to food, land and conflict insecurities. Addressing this requires adaptation and resilience building towards climate impacts, such as droughts, flooding, coastal erosion and desertification, and ensuring that communities have the resources to remain in their homelands or relocated to conducive settlements without destroying their livelihoods, culture and language.

4. Climate Debt, Reparations, and Economic Reforms: Climate reparations, remediation and compensation to the impacted peoples of Africa alongside colonial reparations, must be paid to African nations and the Global South, reflecting the scale of damage caused by climate change and historical exploitation. These reparations should be in the form of grants, not loans that further entrench debt. The APCC demands a dedicated global finance mechanism for loss and damage, with at least $100 billion in new and additional funding per year by 2030. This must be provided by countries in the global north, who bear the historical responsibility for global emissions. African countries should focus on value-added beneficiation, and strategic partnerships, that elevate Africa's position in the value chain. There is an urgent need for structural tax reform of the current financial architecture that will plug illicit financial flows and tax evasion by transnational corporations (TNCs). The APCC firmly opposes the commodification of African forests, land and natural resources through carbon trading.

5. Reform Land Laws and Promote Food Sovereignty: African governments must embrace food sovereignty by prioritizing local food crops over cash crops and promoting seed preservation methods that resist GMOs. This protection must include ratified binding policies such as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas. There is an urgent need to reevaluate customary laws that empower local communities. African nations require a minimum of $15 billion annually by 2030 to finance agricultural adaptation measures, and at least $5 billion per year must be directed toward agro-ecological practices.

6. Energy Sovereignty and Democracy for All: The transition towards renewable energy within Africa must be supported as a priority before Africa exports our resources for the Global North’s transition. Renewable energy projects must be socially owned and benefit women, youth indeginous people and local communities before industry. The transition must be grassroots-driven, ensuring that policies prioritise the well-being of people and the environment, not corporate profits.

7. Stop Waste Colonialism: Africa is not a dumping ground and we are not disposable. It is therefore paramount for us as Africans to adapt to the Global Plastics Treaty which allows us to address plastic pollution across its lifecycle, from extraction to production and disposal.

8. Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) and Self Determination: Women, indigenous peoples and their communities' right to FPIC need to be ratified and implemented in all extractive projects. Communities must have the right to say no or yes to development. Should communities say yes, they should dictate the terms of the project in a manner that benefits them and their environment. Compensation should be commensurate to the level of displacement and losses.

9. Involve the impacted and marginalized in decision-making: Governments should develop sustainable participation mechanisms that bring women, youth indigenous people, people with disabilities and herders, fisherfolk, small-scale food producers’ voices to the policy table to create people-centred policies and real solutions that address the effects of climate change. The demands of the impacted people in their diversity must be heard and respected.

10. Resilience building in Africa: Africans should rise against systematic oppression and climate injustice by sharing their resilience skills and traditional knowledge through storytelling, experience sharing, and learning and put this knowledge into practice in our African communities led by indigenous people and women. This knowledge must be respected and incorporated into other systems and processes, as it is expert knowledge.

CONCLUSION

African People’s Counter COP (APCC) recognizes that African voices have largely been excluded from the UNFCCC COP which has been captured by Global North states and corporations that continue to fuel the climate crises while falsely claiming to solve the causes of climate change. The APCC is therefore a movement to denounce the COP whilst highlighting the impacts of climate change on African communities and showcasing viable alternative solutions that have emerged through knowledge sharing and activism from grassroots African communities, experts, activists and CSOs. 

The event which has come to stay, will influence policies on world platforms and tables of discussion, as far as the environment is concerned.