PRESIDENTIAL GARB …

President Hifikepunye Pohamba pictured at the Hosea Kutako International Airport yesterday before his departure to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to attend the African Union Summit.

AU to discuss climate change PRESIDENT Hifikepunye departed for Ethiopia yesterday to attend the eighth ordinary session of heads of state of the African Union in Addis Ababa, which starts today. The President is accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister Marco Hausiku and senior Government officials. The theme of the session is ‘Science, Technology and Scientific Research for Development’, focusing on the role that science and technology can play towards socio-economic development in the 53 AU member states.However, climate change and global warming will also be an important topic at the two-day conference.British scientist Professor Nicholas Stern will give a presentation on climate change in Africa.Stern is the advisor to the British Government on the economics of climate change.His recent report – dubbed the ‘Stern Report’ – on global climate change made international headlines.African leaders will also discuss further steps towards a United States of Africa, partly based on the European Union model.This entails one common currency for all African states.Other topics on the agenda are the integration of Nepad (New Economic Partnership for Africa’s Development) projects, the Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) – a voluntary scrutiny of member states on the achievement of development goals – and the election of new members of the AU Commission and a new AU chairman.Today will also see the launch of the International Year of African Football in Addis Ababa.The theme of the session is ‘Science, Technology and Scientific Research for Development’, focusing on the role that science and technology can play towards socio-economic development in the 53 AU member states.However, climate change and global warming will also be an important topic at the two-day conference.British scientist Professor Nicholas Stern will give a presentation on climate change in Africa.Stern is the advisor to the British Government on the economics of climate change.His recent report – dubbed the ‘Stern Report’ – on global climate change made international headlines.African leaders will also discuss further steps towards a United States of Africa, partly based on the European Union model.This entails one common currency for all African states.Other topics on the agenda are the integration of Nepad (New Economic Partnership for Africa’s Development) projects, the Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) – a voluntary scrutiny of member states on the achievement of development goals – and the election of new members of the AU Commission and a new AU chairman.Today will also see the launch of the International Year of African Football in Addis Ababa.