Statement by Mr. Carlos Lopes UN Uunder- Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ECA : at the third annual conference on climate change and development in Africa (CCDA-III) -can climate change spring Africa's transformative development

Abstract

This Statement delivered by Mr. Carlos Lopes UN Under Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ECA. At the Third Annual Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA-III) - Can Climate Change Spring Africa’s Transformative Development. Mr. Lopes highlighted on his remark that, if we go back in history we all remember the time when the black-death plague killed so many people that must have thought it was the end of their world. Important civilizations died without clear explanations for their sudden faith. The Black Death was particularly acute in Europe, spreading poverty and decimating livelihoods. The type of industrialization path Africa chooses will make a big difference. Africa possesses some of the best resource base for industrial production. Exporting the resources far away deprives Africans from jobs and the world of sustainability, given the Co2 emissions impact of current flows. As countries grow, they become cleaner, more urban, more peaceful, more efficient and better informed. This rational is based on the environmental version of Kuznets' curve which describes the relationship between prosperity and inequality in an inverted U shape. Lopes concluded his speech on Climate change was responsible for bad and good in the past. Most of it happened without humans having a clue why it was so. Now we know. To avoid the bad and aim for the good Africa can take the lead. We should not be spectators.