Date: 24/07/2010
Source: The African Union
Title: AU: Mutharika: Address by the Chairperson of the African Union, at the CAHOSCC meeting, Kampala

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• YOUR EXCELLENCY, PRESIDENT YOWERI MUSEVENI OF THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA
• YOUR EXCELLENCY, PRIME MINISTER MELES ZENAWI OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF ETHIOPIA,
• EXCELLENCIES, FELLOW HEADS OF STATE AND GOVERNMENT,
• HONOURABLE MINISTERS,
• DISTINGUISHED GUESTS,
• LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.

Excellencies

I wish to begin by commending the Government of Uganda for convening and hosting the Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change meeting which is very timely and relevant for my Government and most of our nations.

Excellencies

Climate change has become one of the biggest developmental challenges facing the planet. The challenges are even more pronounced and significant for the African continent, because of its levels of poverty and low capacity to adapt.

We have already experienced and felt the impacts of climate change in our countries especially on agriculture which is the main source of livelihood for most of our people. Crop failures and loss of livestock due to droughts and floods have had negative consequences thereby undermining food security objectives. The most vulnerable people are, in general, the poor, since they have less capacity to adapt, and their livelihoods are often dependent on natural resources that would be adversely affected by climate change.

Excellencies Ladies and Gentlemen

Time has now come that we collectively as nations, individually in our right have to do something to avert consequences of climate change in order avoid a future catastrophe. We need to act now, because if we do not, the development gains that we have attained in our countries will be lost, thereby leaving more people in poverty. We therefore need to take this challenge head-on.

Excellencies

Climate change is indeed real and its ramifications are wide and disastrous and therefore as nations we need to prioritize climate change, natural resources and environmental management in our national development agenda.

I, also, believe that to avert the current threat, Africa must revolutionize its agricultural policies and methods. Irrigation farming should therefore be at the centre of it.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen

The people of Africa have the will and desire to surmount the climate change and development challenges they face daily, but they lack the resources and the means necessary to do so. Therefore, it is our duty as leaders to commit ourselves and assist our people overcome those challenges and ensure that their development needs and aspirations are realized and met. I would like to take this opportunity to call upon the member states to put more efforts in mobilizing resources for the development and implementation of those programmes aimed at combating climate change.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen

To conclude, I wish to reiterate that the meeting is timely and important as it has come at a point when most of the world nations are preparing for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 16th Conference of Parties (COP16) to take place in Cancun, Mexico in December, 2010. This meeting will accord us the opportunity to strengthen the coordination mechanism, exchange views on negotiations strategies and consolidate the African common position for the negotiations.

With these remarks, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish to thank you all for your attention.

May God bless you.