Marrakech Call to Action from African Civil Society COP-Africa 2016
We, the members of African civil society present at COP 22 in Marrakech in Morocco, following our meeting in the autonomous space on the 14th of November, a meeting which is in line with processes started in Paris on the margins of COP 21, reinforced in Tangier during the MedCOP and further solidified during the international conference in Casablanca:
We remind the international community that Africa, host of COP 22, but also of wars, terrorism, and exclusion, is experiencing the most dramatic and brutal effects of global warming: degradation of the environment and natural resources, food insecurity, water stress, increased poverty levels, health risks, massive waves of population displacement and an exacerbation of conflicts.
In light of promises and commitments not honored on behalf of developed countries, particularly regarding Africa, that limit the possibility of creating a new atmosphere of confidence in international negotiation processes:
We reaffirm our determination to act in solidarity with associations as they continue to perform valuable work in the various domains of social and climate justice and the defense of the rights of African peoples. We reaffirm our belief that responsible and professional dialogue with all actors and decision makers for a united Africa is the only way to overcome the obstacles of attaining a sustainable, just development that preserves rights, equality and dignity.
Recognize and commend efforts made by various state and non-state actors in Morocco to ensure that COP 22 is an African COP of Action with the objective of limiting temperature rise to 1.5°C, and note the urgently needed action in order to ensure this becomes operational.
We intend to continue our mobilization in order to:
- Mobilise the people of Africa for climate justice, social justice and democracy.
- Address the negative consequences of wars taking place on our continent and contribute to the process of peace-building negotiations that will safeguard future generations;
- demand reparations for the ecological debt amassed by industrialized countries at the expense of poorer countries and ensure that countries of the North assume their responsibilities so that our communities may adapt and address the consequences of global warming; denounce and continue to struggle against multinational corporations that deplete our natural resources;
- fight for transparency, access to information and direct access to financing; establish systematic consultation processes to guarantee citizen’s participation and ensure that the voice of civil society is heard and included in negotiations and in decision making processes;
- Accelerate African sustainable development and reject the model of economic development based on the exploitation of natural resources for the benefit of a privileged minority; mobilize social movements against all injustices and particularly against the extractivist system;
- ensure a just transition towards a future that is 100% renewable and exit the era of combustible fossil fuels; provide just alternatives to climate change, defend peasant agriculture and food security and reject false solutions that dispossess aboriginal people and peasants of their lands; defend human rights and real equality against all forms of domination and oppression, whether they are based in gender, origin, language, religion, culture, etc.
Time is of the essence: we have but a few short years to preserve the possibility of a future that is free of climate chaos. Together, we must make COP 22 an essential and determining step in strengthening the movement for climate justice.
Marrakech, the 14th of November 2016, at the close of the African Citizen’s Assembly
COP refers to the Conference of the Parties. These are the yearly conferences held in terms of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which is aimed at reducing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. The Conference of the Parties (COP) was designated as the supreme governing body of the Convention. This is the 22nd year that the conference is being held, hence COP-22. COP-22 was held in Marrakech, Morrocco, from 14th to 18th November 2016.