The Rwanda Association of Local Government Authorities has urged fellow African Local Government family to recommit to local climate action. RALGA welcomed the COP27 decisions on multilevel collaboration and the establishment of the loss and damage fund.
During the ongoing one week long 6th African Forum of territorial managers and training institutes targeting the Local Government that is taking place in Agadir, the Kingdom of Morocco, the Chairperson of RALGA shared the experience and RALGA’s commitments to local climate action.
The Chairperson of RALGA, Cllr Nyiramasengesho Jeannette, who was the keynote speaker today at the Forum, spoke of the role of Local and Subnational Governments in combatting climate change, taking the case of Rwanda. She urged representatives of Local governments and partners on the African continent to take action to deal with adverse impact of climate change, adding that the solution remains a shared responsibility.
In her remarks, Nyiramasengesho shared Rwanda’s experience in local climate action. “Through the decentralization policy, the Government of Rwanda has defined the responsibilities of both the Central and Local Governments. The Central Government is responsible for policy formulation and legislation, resources mobilization, capacity building and monitoring and evaluation. Local Governments are responsible for implementation of all policies or programs and delivery of services”, she said.
“In Rwanda, climate change is a reality. The challenge is real. We have experienced disasters leading to fatalities. We have had drought and floods, famine and hunger, compelling the local government to deploy more of the scarce resources to assist needy and affected citizens. However, some of the effects of climate change could not be mitigated at local level, they require action from the Central Government or the Global North, particularly through the reduction of green gas emissions, adaptation fund, loss and damage and access to local climate finance”, she added.
She reiterated RALGA’s commitment to climate action.
“We have been playing our role, and we shall do more in collaboration with our partners, particularly those in Africa and beyond, because climate action is a shared responsibility. The time to act is now, and together we can achieve the Africa we want”, she said.
The Chairperson of RALGA encouraged fellow Africans to remain focused and committed to climate action.
“Don’t agonize; organize”, she concluded.
The forum of territorial managers and training institutions was organized by the United Cities and Local Government of Africa through the African Local Government Academy (ALGA) under the theme “the challenge of training and building capacities of local elected officials and employees of local and regional governments in Africa in climate action”.
