Africa must move beyond declarations on climate change and develop financing mechanisms that make polluters contribute to environmental restoration while enabling African countries to fund more of their own climate adaptation, National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula has said. Wetang’ula spoke on Wednesday when members of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) visited Parliament Buildings in Nairobi to discuss the development and implementation of a Model Law on Climate Change for Africa. He said Africa can no longer approach climate change solely as an international diplomatic issue, urging countries to strengthen laws, institutions and domestic financing mechanisms as extreme weather, water stress and disruptions to agriculture intensify. “We need to commit and punish climate polluters. We are on our own,” Wetang’ula said. He proposed taxation on the extraction of minerals and other natural resources, with part of the proceeds directed towards climate mitigation, adaptation, environmental restoration and protection of vulnerable communities. Wetang’ula said Africa’s natural-resource wealth should become part of the solution to climate change, calling for stronger continental standards governing resource extraction. “It should not be left to individual countries to decide what to do with some of our heritage,” he said. The proposal comes amid a widening gap between climate adaptat...
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