Cameroon Civil Society under the auspices of Pan African Climate Justice Alliance, brought together diverse groups from the youth, indigenous peoples, farmers, NGOs in a meeting held in Yaounde last week ahead of the African Ministerial Conference on Environment (AMCEN) in Egypt.

The discussions centered around the climate change negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which, they said, have so far delivered no concrete results with climate change that continue to stand in the way of African development aspirations.

“The last two decades have been characterised by unfulfilled promises and commitments by developed countries but still we feel that the multilateral process under UNFCCC is the only sure way to deliver fairness and justice for poor countries and communities,” Augustine Njamnshi, member of PACJA said.

Njamnshi said the African civil society wants Developed Countries Parties (DCPs) to mobilise at least USD 1 trillion and monetise pledges to the financial entities of the financial mechanism of the Convention in order to meaningfully implement adaptation interventions and low carbon development strategies.

From Copenhagen, Cancun, Durban, Doha, Warsaw and Lima climate conferences, the rallying call of the civil society has been that the outcome of the negotiations must keep Africa safe, ensure food security and ensure a fair sharing of the atmospheric space between North and South.

“We should not hold back from putting pressure on rich countries to change excessive production and consumption systems while protecting and compensating communities affected by their historical actions.

Discussions around the new climate change agreement should be preceded by the rich countries honouring the promise they have already made as a signal of good faith,” Njamnshi said.