NAIROBI, Sep 5 (IPS) – With less than 100 days to go until COP29, the term of the highest decision-making body on climate issues under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is drawing short and the need for creative and innovative solutions to protect lives and livelihoods is of utmost urgency.
The State of the Climate in Africa 2023 report shows that all six African subregions have experienced increases in temperature trends over the past six decades. In Africa, 2023 was one of the three warmest years in 124 years, leading to unprecedented climate carnage. The consequences are such that there is not enough food, increasing poverty, damage, displacement and loss of life.
But where many see challenges, there are also opportunities.
Speaking to the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change, said today: “Climate action is the single greatest economic opportunity of this century. It can and must be the single greatest opportunity for Africa to lift up its people, communities and economies after centuries of exploitation and neglect.”
“The opportunity is immense. But so are the costs to African countries of unchecked global warming. The continent is warming faster than the global average. From Algeria to Zambia, climate-related disasters are getting worse, causing the most suffering for those who contributed least.”
The climate report was jointly launched by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the African Union on 2 September 2024, during the 12th Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA12). The report shows that Africa is being disproportionately affected by the climate crisis, as the continent is warming at a rate slightly faster than the global average.
The year 2023 was the warmest on record in many countries, including Mali, Morocco, the United Republic of Tanzania and Uganda. Warming has been fastest in North Africa, with Morocco experiencing the largest temperature anomaly.
The report found that parts of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Zambia, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo faced severe drought in 2023. Following severe drought in the Greater Horn of Africa, three countries, including Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia, experienced extensive and severe flooding, with at least 352 deaths and 2.4 million displaced people reported.
Amid the far-reaching devastating loss and damage, the UN climate chief stressed that in Africa, as in all regions, the climate crisis is an economic sinkhole, sucking the momentum out of economic growth and in fact many African countries are losing up to 5 percent of GDP due to climate impacts. It is African countries and people who are paying the highest price.
Putting additional pressure on poverty reduction efforts, which in turn could significantly hamper growth, the report shows that many countries “divert up to 9 percent of their budgets into unplanned spending to respond to extreme weather events. By 2030, it is estimated that up to 118 million extremely poor people – or those living on less than USD 1.90 a day – will be exposed to drought, floods and extreme heat in Africa if adequate response measures are not taken.”
To put it in perspective, Stiell said: “Imagine food production being hit hard, contributing to the resurgence of famine, while also driving up global prices, and with it inflation and the cost of living. Desertification and habitat destruction are forcing people to move. Supply chains are already being hit hard by spiraling climate impacts,” he said.
Further warning that “it would be completely wrong for any world leader, particularly in the G20, to think: while incredibly sad, it is ultimately not my problem. The economic and political reality, in an interdependent world, is that we are all in this crisis together. We rise together, or we fall together. But if the climate and economic crises are globally interconnected, then so are the solutions.”
In Sub-Saharan Africa alone, climate adaptation is estimated to cost $30-50 billion, equivalent to two to three percent of regional GDP per year over the next decade. With COP28 having completed the first-ever stocktake of global climate action – a mid-term review of progress toward the 2015 Paris Agreement – COP29 is being dubbed the ‘finance COP’ – an opportunity to align climate finance contributions with estimated global needs.
COP29 also offers an opportunity to build on previous successes, especially after a very successful COP28, whose ambitious commitments included: a rapid but fair transition away from all fossil fuels; tripling renewable energy and doubling energy efficiency; and moving from responding to climate impacts to truly transformative adaptation.
While acknowledging these big commitments, Stiell said delivering on them will unlock a goldmine of human and economic benefits, including cleaner, more reliable and affordable energy across Africa. More jobs, stronger local economies, which means more stability and opportunity, particularly for women. That electrification and lighting in the home at night means children can do homework, which improves educational outcomes, with big productivity gains that drive stronger economic growth.
“Cooking with traditional fuels emits about as much greenhouse gas as global aviation or shipping. It also contributes to 3 million premature deaths a year. It would cost $4 billion a year to fix this in Africa – an excellent investment on any accounting basis,” he said.
He further stressed the need to link nature-based climate solutions to biodiversity protection and land restoration, as this will boost progress on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Yet, he reiterated, the enormous potential of African countries to advance climate solutions is being thwarted by an epidemic of underinvestment.
“Of the more than $400 billion spent on clean energy last year, only $2.6 billion went to African countries. Investments in renewable energy in Africa must increase at least fivefold by 2030. COP29 in Baku must send a signal that the climate crisis is core business for every government, with matching financial solutions,” Stiell stressed.
“It is time to flip the script. From potential climate tipping points to exponential changes in business, investment and growth. Changes that will further strengthen African countries’ climate leadership and their vital role in global climate solutions, on all fronts. Your role at COP29 – and your voices in the run-up to it – are more important than ever to help guide our process towards the most ambitious results the whole world needs.”
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© Inter Press Service (2024) — All rights reservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
