As the clock ticks towards the climate change talks in Copenhagen, Africa has now declared that it will not accept a new pact to replace the Kyoto Protocol.
The African negotiators have also stated that neither will they accept a merger of the protocol that is currently in use, with a new agreement.
In a statement to mark the end of their Second Technical Meeting in Addis Ababa, the negotiators said successful negotiations should produce...
They want sections of the Kyoto Protocol on the developed countries to be amended to include further commitments for a second and subsequent commitment periods.
Africa also wants a separate legal instrument to be developed based on the outcome of the negotiations of the Bali Action Plan under the Climate Change Convention.
The statement reiterated that Africa should be equitably compensated in the context of environmental justice, for environmental resources, economic and social losses considering developed countries historical responsibilities on climate change.
"In this respect, Africa requires new, sustained and scaled-up finance, technology and capacity for adaptation and risk management," the statement read in part.
The provision of financial, technological and capacity building support by developed country parties for adaptation in developing countries, they argued, is a commitment under the climate change Convention that must be urgently fulfilled.
The second technical meeting in Addis Ababa brought together about 150 African lead negotiators and high level experts on climate change from all African countries.
This was one of the last meetings the continent is holding to consolidate consensus on its common position and was held in the backdrop of new developments in the ongoing negotiations on climate change, which tend to suggest the replacement or the merger of the Kyoto Protocol, among others.
The updated and consolidated African Common Position will be submitted to African Ministers and Heads of State on the eve of the COP- 15 in Copenhagen. The negotiators' statement said that the post-2012 regime should be based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
"Africa's shared vision calls for a fair, inclusive, effective and equitable new agreement in Copenhagen that will benefit the climate and vulnerable countries and be undertaken in the context of poverty eradication, sustainable development and the need for gender equity," the statement said.
The negotiators said that as the most vulnerable continent, Africa deserved the right for full support to adapt to climate change.
This is also due to the continent's least contribution to the global greenhouse gas emissions yet its communities stand to suffer the most.
Concerning mitigation, the African negotiators would like to see a firewall maintained between mitigation commitments by all developed countries and mitigation actions by developing countries.
While developed Countries must reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020 and at least 80 per cent to 95 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050, in order to achieve the lowest level of stabilisation assessed by the IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report, mitigation actions for Africa should be voluntary and nationally appropriate and must be fully supported and enabled by technology transfer, finance and capacity building from developed Countries.
Other key messages are related to institutional arrangements that must be equitable and transparent; Technology deployment, diffusion and transfer and institutional capacity in Africa.
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