Excellency President Hollande, President of the Republic of France, and Chairperson of the COP21
Excellency Heads of State and Government
Excellency Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
Your Excellencies, Distinguished Guest, Ladies and Gentlemen

COP 21 is critical for all humanity, because climate change affects all of us, rich and poor, large and small countries, and all regions of the world.
There is no greater evidence of the impact of environmental degradation and climate change than the advancement of the Sahara desert and shrinking of the once mighty Lake Chad and River Niger, with dire effect on the ecosystems with the resolute creep of the Sahara dessert. It’s worth repeating that Lake Chad has shrunk from 25,000 sq km, to only 2.500 sq.
This impacts on livelihoods, subsistence and income generation of more than 100 million inhabitants of this region, on human security and on peace and stability.
The Great Green Wall for the Sahara and SaheI initiative, a flagship project of the Africa Union Commission, that started in 2007, which seeks to “green” the circum–Sahara region through sustainable land and water management approaches in a strip that is 15 km wide and 7,100 km long, from Dakar to Djibouti.
Countries that form part of this laudable initiative include: Senegal, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, The Gambia and Ethiopia.These efforts involve local farmers in promoting natural regeneration and the improvements we see are encouraging. For example, the tree density in the Zinder region of Niger has improved for the first time since the mid-1980s with the afforestation of more than one million trees planted. In Senegal, through the multipurpose gardening and pasture reserves, women have alternative source of income and, the animal husbandry has improved.
The Initiative allows countries to cooperate across borders, especially around issues of land, water and livestock management, and to share experiences. The Global Environmental Fund, the World Bank and others have collaborated and has allocated in excess of 1.1 billion US dollars in support of the Great Green Wall, in participating countries. The European Union, FAO and UNCCD are investing more than 35 million Euro in 11 countries n this effort.
In a similar vein, the five-year Investment Programme (2013 - 2017) of the Lake Chad Basin Commission is a comprehensive response, with its different components focusing on the social and economic aspects, sustainable management of natural resources, preservation and restoration of ecosystems of the lake basin, improvement to the quantity and quality of the lake waters, the management of water resources of the basin countries and security cooperation. These efforts are an examples of adaptation and mitigation interventions to save Lake Chad and improve the quality of so many people.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen - But, we need to do much, much more.
Today, in Southern and East Africa of our continent, as is the case in parts of West Africa since last year, countries face the worst droughts in last 30 to 80 years, leading to loss of lives and property, and also leading to natural resource based migration and conflicts.
Of course Africa and the Africa Union, have not been sitting idle waiting for calamities such as these to happen. Many countries have already started to introduce climate smart agriculture, and to combat deforestation and other forms of environmental degradation. The issue of water management is also high on our agenda.
The African Risk Capacity, started less than five years ago, and is a prime example of Africa seizing the initiative to tackle the challenges facing the continent. Thanks to collaboration and innovation from governments and the financial sector, we have established in the ARC a sophisticated, fair and well-governed climate-financing scheme. It’s a real success story of self-reliance that sets an example for other continents.
Africa’s programmes for climate change in adaptation and mitigation, championed by our Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC), chaired by Egypt.
Africa also has initiatives ensure an energy mix that includes a large proportion of renewable energy: hydro, solar, wind and geothermal, and African countries have put in place policies, investment plans and projects to give effect to this. We therefore support the calls for amongst the outcomes of this COP21 an African Renewable Energy programme. Such a programme should be driven by Africa and complement the continental development strategies, so that investments in renewable energies contribute to industrialisation, manufacturing and job and enterprise creation, as well as the development of skills and transfer of technologies.
The 50-year development vision of the continent, Agenda 2063: The Africa we want, envisages a development path for Africa that is green, using its resources sustainably and with a low carbon footprint and that creates shared prosperity for all Africans.
Excellencies,
Let me remind us again, that although Africa contributes and continues to contribute the least to greenhouse gas emissions (at present less than 3.8%), we are amongst the most affected, especially countries around the Great Green Wall and Small Island States.
It is for these reasons that the African unified voice at this Summit calls for:
1. For a comprehensive protocol, legally binding instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force that is applicable to all parties, within a global governance framework and encompassing the issues of mitigation, adaptation, financing and technology transfer;
2. For climate justice and new agreement to be based on principles of common but differentiated responsibilities with respective capabilities and equity, so that developed countries who caused climate change with its related damages should also provide means to address its consequences to the developing countries;
3. A global commitment to reduce greenhouse emissions to well below 2 degrees Celsius; and
4. Adequate funding for developing countries for adaptation and mitigation measures, including the period 2015–2020 and post 2020.
We also must simplify the processes for countries to access existing and new climate funds instruments, including the Global Environment Fund.
Let me conclude, by urging all of us to expand support to the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and Sahel Initiative, the resuscitation of the Lake Chad Basin and other initiatives in the region, to build resilience and the livelihoods of people of the Sahara and Sahel.
Let me at this juncture, appreciate all the Partner institutions that have supported the Commission from the launch of this laudable initiative by our African Heads of State and Government in 2007 to date.
This COP21 should not be a moment of lost opportunity but a golden opportunity to renew our commitments - we owe it to current and future generations.
I thank you for your kind attention.