Norwegian Ambassador for Climate Change, Ole Kristian Holthe, participated at the APF special sessionThe participants of the APF special session expressed their recognition that climate change is a critical issue globally, and for Africa, and sees this as a crucial year for taking effective international action.
- Urgent action is needs to be taken by the international community to reduce global emissions. Africa is prepared to make a significant contribution to this effort. The Copenhagen agreement must recognize Africa’s legitimate development needs, the APF joint statement says.
The key political messages from the APF meeting will be communicated to the UN High Level event on Climate Change on 22 September, the up-coming G20 Summit in Pittsburgh on 24-25th September, relevant African processes and the on-going negotiations within the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The meeting welcomed the nomination of Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister of Ethiopia, as the coordinator for the African common position for the UNFCCC negotiations at Copenhagen.
Prime minister Meles will be joined by amongst others AU Commission Chairman Jean Ping, Libyan leader and current AU chairman Moammar Ghadaffi, current AU chairman, and the leaders of Algeria, Congo, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria and Uganda.
Norway was represented at the APF special session by the Norwegian Ambassador for Climate Change Ole Christian Holthe and Silje Vikøy, counselor at the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Addis Ababa. Ole Kristian Holthe met the Ethiopian prime minister earlier this year to discuss climate change related issues. Norwegian Minister of Environment and International Development, Erik Solheim, also had talks with Meles Zenawi in Ethiopia last November.