THE CHALLENGE OF CLIMATE CHANGE

The conference on the challenge of Climate Chance in Africa was the fourth of five thematic conferences organised by the Africa Commission in 2008.  

You can read more about the previous conferences here.
The five conferences led up to the second meeting in the Africa Commission, which took place in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, on 20 November 2008.

The conference in Nairobi was hosted by two members of the Africa Commission: Dr. Christian Friis Bach, International Director of DanChurchAid and Ms. Betty Maina, Executive Director of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers.

The objective of the conference was to secure a string of recommendations that will be used in the further work of the Africa Commission, and to ensure African and civil society ownership to the process.

The conferences were constructed around the subthemes of the Africa Commission, and the aim was to produce well-founded and solid input to the final work of the commission.

A broad range of participants

The more than 80 participants in Nairobi represented a broad range of actors from government institutions, civil society and the private sector. The list included environmental and resource specialists, NGO's, environmental economists, business associations and officials from relevant ministries. 
 
Following the format of the already concluded conferences, the one-day conference in Nairobi was divided between plenary sessions and smaller working groups, in which the participants discuss specialized sub-themes connected to the main theme of climate change in Africa.

Themes for the working groups

The following themes was used as inspiration and guide for the working group discussions:

1. Water resources
2. Food security and agricultural productivity
3. Adaptation to climate change in urban areas
4. Economic development and clean energy
5. Avoiding deforestation

The interventions from the plenary sessions and the recommendations from the various working groups were consolidated into a conference paper that can be downloaded here.