COP27: El Burhan renews Sudan’s international climate commitments

Sudan’s Chairman of the Sovereignty Council and Leader of Sudan’s Armed Forces, Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, returned to Sudan yesterday following his appearance at the COP27 climate summit in Sharm El Sheikh.

El Burhan reportedly proposed a number of projects that would contribute and accelerate the climate change response methods of African countries in agriculture, pastures, and water-rationalisation to remedy the effects of Africa’s current environmental crisis, according to SUNA.

In his COP27 address to a number of heads of state, government officials, and leaders of various organisations, the junta head stated, “climate change has become the biggest environmental phenomena that haunts the world”.

He noted that climate change impacted “vital sectors related to people's livelihoods”, especially in the case of farming.

He stressed that rain-dependent agricultural practices have greatly diminished, noting that “two-thirds of the population depend on it in order to obtain food”, according to SUNA.

The Sovereignty Council leader affirmed Sudan's commitment in implementing the Climate Change Agreement, the Paris Summit Agreement, and the Kyoto Protocol.

SUNA reported that El Burhan also submitted a document to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat, Simon Stiell, which outlined a series of projects to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change.

In his address, El Burhan pinned high hopes on the Paris Agreement’s implementation, due to Sudan’s productive sectors being impacted so heavily by climate change. He added that climate change was what had led to “waves of displacement, population movements, and caused conflicts over resources”, according to SUNA.

As well as the international agreements, the junta head also affirmed Sudan’s commitment to a number of regional frameworks such as the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Regional Strategy, Regional Conference on Land and Conflict in Kampala, and Regional Ministerial Conference on Environment.

Sudan in crisis

Sudan is struggling under “a weak state unable to meet its people’s basic needs, warlord rule in many regions, and populations facing hunger or famine as COVID and the Russia-Ukraine war multiply economic burdens” according to the United States Institute of Peace (USIP).

As Sudan’s complex crisis deepens, reflecting that of many other fragile states around the world, climate change will only extend dry periods and worsen destructive floods caused by short heavy rains. Sudan is near the bottom of Notre Dame University's GAIN rankings, which measure resilience to climate change.

Nonetheless, a USIP article published last month said: “An asset that can help Sudan build the more responsive governance it needs is the country’s remarkably vibrant, deeply rooted tradition of nonviolent civic action.”