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CoDA Sees Role in Climate Change Talks, Says Africa Should Stay the Course Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 11 October 2010 (ECA) - The Coalition for Dialogue on Africa (CoDA), the key development think-tank of the continent is urging African leaders to stay the course in current and future multinational negotiations on climate change, despite a sense of frustration that the talks are leading to nowhere, according to CoDA Governing Board Chair, Mr. Festus Mogae, who is the former President of the Republic of Botswana. Speaking on the sidelines of the just-ended African Development Forum VII (ADF VII), Mr. Mogae said that obvious lack of progress in the talks should not be a reason to abandon them or not to take them very seriously. Mr. Mogae’s comments came in the wake of a damming assessment of the achieving of the currents talks by the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Mr. Meles Zenawi, who is also the African Union's spokesperson for climate change and co-chairs the UN-backed High-level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing. Mr. Meles had warned at one of ADF’s sessions that, unless there is a change of approach to climate change negotiations among developed countries, the “forthcoming Cancun conference on climate change, and indeed, the next one planned for South Africa, would be a flop”. Another member of CoDA supported Mr. Mogae’s position saying that the best way forward for Africa in the talks is unity of purpose and consistency in negotiating positions. Prof. Abdoulaye Bathily, former Senegalese cabinet minister and current Interim Executive Director of CoDA, called for the Kyoto Protocol to be extended beyond 2012, while the talks last. CoDA board members have personal interests in climate change, but ADF VII was the first time the Coalition met on the subject, listening to presentations on diverse climate change concerns and negotiations. For example, members found the presentation by the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) very enlightening, according to participants. In Africa’s endeavour to harness all the resources possible to face the catastrophic consequences of climate change, no initiative could be one too many, not least from a group like CoDA, because of the intellectual quality and political reach of its members. They include Dr. Cheick Modibo Diarra, Chairman, Microsoft Middle East and Africa; Mr. Walter Fust, CEO/Director General, Global Humanitarian Forum; Dr. Frene Ginwala, Former Speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa; Dr. Mo Ibrahim, Chair, Mo Ibrahim Foundation; Dr. Speciosa Wandira Kazibwe, former Vice President of the Republic of Uganda; The Right Honourable Paul Martin, former Prime Minister of Canada; and Mr. Mohammed ElBaradei, former Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), These personalities constitute a reservoir of competencies that could be used strategically to advance Africa’s positions in diverse development challenges, including climate change. The Chairman of the African Union Commission, Dr. Jean Ping; the Executive Secretary of the UNECA, Mr. Abdoulie Janneh and the President of the African Development Bank, Dr. Donald Kaberuka are also members of the Governing Board. Prof. Abdoulaye Bathily, is the Interim Executive Director. The Coalition for Dialogue on Africa (CoDA) is a new, independent, international, African-owned forum that identifies and discusses issues of importance to Africa’s development within a global context. It is a think tank that advocates for the continent, brings together a range of stakeholders to promote dialogue and provides a platform for African voices to be heard. It is policy-oriented, and works in collaboration with other African and international organizations addressing issues of Africa’s security, peace, governance and development. CoDA is sponsored by, but is not a program of, the African Union Commission, the UN Economic Commission for Africa and the African Development Bank. It is governed by a Board of eminent African and non-African personalities and receives support from the private sector. The CoDA Secretariat is housed at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
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