GCCA+ West Africa's participation at COP27: outcomes and perspectives

Supporting the climate leadership of West African regional institutions

The COP27 was a platform of choice to make visible the regional climate leadership of ECOWAS and its West African partner institutions, in particular BOAD, UEMOA and CILSS. To this end, the GCCA+ West Africa project supported ECOWAS in setting up a West African pavilion at COP27, co-piloted with BOAD, and in partnership with UEMOA and CILSS.

The West African pavilion, a privileged place of exchange for the actors of the region, allowed the organisation of a total of 37 side events during the 2 weeks of the COP. Among these events, the GCCA+ WA project, in collaboration with ECOWAS, had the opportunity to co-organise several side events highlighting both the operational achievements of the project and the institutional achievements of ECOWAS in the fight against climate change. On the agenda: ECOWAS' regional climate strategy, feedback from climate-smart agriculture (CSA) pilot projects, capacity building to adopt climate-resilient agricultural practices, mobilisation of climate finance in West Africa, water resources management and presentation of baseline data on carbon in West African forest ecosystems.

For Moussa Leko, Director of Environment and Natural Resources of the ECOWAS Commission: "The ECOWAS regional climate strategy is an important step in supporting the commitments of all West African States in the fight against climate change. It is a strategy developed with all stakeholders and partners at both regional and Member State levels".

In the same vein, Nicolas CHENET, Director of the Sustainable Development Department of Expertise France, emphasised that "the GCCA+ WA project has made it possible, under the political leadership of ECOWAS and with the impetus of technical data provided by CILSS, to strengthen regional climate action. The support to the elaboration of the ECOWAS regional climate strategy which gives a vision for 2050 with an action plan for 2030 is a major achievement for the leadership and sustainability of ECOWAS climate action, as well as the financing of 15 pilot projects of climate smart agriculture at the local level which beyond the impacts in their territories enrich the regional framework".

Exchanges on the adaptation of agriculture to climate change

Adaptation and mitigation issues were also at the heart of the discussions on the West African pavilion at COP27. The GCCA+ WA project presented the key success factors for ensuring adaptation to climate change and avoiding the pitfalls of maladaptation in the agricultural sector. For Alexandre NEVSKY RODRIGUES, Director of Environment of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment of Cape Verde: "the regional capitalisation of the pilot projects supported by the GCCA+ WA  project has demonstrated that good practices in climate-smart agriculture and agroecology are indispensable tools for managing water resources and for achieving the climate objectives of West African public policies. In Cape Verde, where some islands have not received rain for four years, the innovative water optimisation techniques in agroforestry, tested by ADPM, are now being closely monitored by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Environment".

Other challenges such as the scaling up of AIC pilot projects were also discussed. Jacques André NDIONE, coordinator of the regional project for the promotion of AIC in West Africa, recalled that climate finance still lacks critical mass in West Africa: "to reduce dependence on external public aid, a stronger mobilisation of the private sector and a better profitability of AIC and agro-ecology are encouraged by ECOWAS"

Mobilising climate finance in West Africa

On the occasion of COP27, ECOWAS Member States mobilised to remind stakeholders and policy makers of the urgency to accelerate climate finance over the next decade. The mapping of climate finance flows carried out by ECOWAS (2003 - 2022) shows a deficit of investment in climate action, in relation to the conditional needs expressed by the countries concerned. Despite existing collaborations with different partners, the need to increase the volume and efficiency of financial flows for adaptation is essential.

The climate finance expert of the GCCA + AO Project at ECOWAS, Esso Sam AGRIGNAN, presented some figures from the mapping of climate finance flows in West Africa. In particular, he highlighted that "over the period 2019 - 2022, ECOWAS Member States have only been able to mobilise 3,325 million dollars out of the 82,689 million deemed necessary for the implementation of the conditional parts of their NDCs. If this trend continues, by 2030, only 13% of the annual financial needs for the implementation of declared conditional NDCs will be covered". Hence the urgent call by the countries of the ECOWAS region to technical and financial partners to programme and mobilise additional support to support low-carbon and resilient development in the region. To this end, an advocacy note has been produced and relayed to stakeholders during COP27.

ECOWAS GRANIC: support to international climate negotiations

The GCCA+ WA project contributed to supporting West African expectations at the negotiation level. The project supported and coordinated the participation of the ECOWAS Regional Support Group for International Climate Negotiations (RAG-CLIN) at COP27. The RAG-CLIN’s members attended the negotiations for the benefit of ECOWAS and its Member States, analysing the issues at stake in terms of climate finance, mitigation, Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, transparency, adaptation and loss and damage.

Perspectives

2022 marks the last operational year of the GCCA+ WA project funded by the European Union and implemented by Expertise France under the political leadership of ECOWAS and in partnership with CILSS. The GCCA+ WA project has strengthened the capacities of West African regional institutions on climate change issues, but also fostered the emergence of innovative field solutions to strengthen the climate resilience of agricultural and rural actors. The achievements of this regional project were presented at COP27.

ECOWAS will continue its efforts to address the needs of its Member States in the areas of climate change in order to foster the resilience of its people and the scaling up of good climate-smart agriculture practices for the benefit of rural communities.