Climate Action Biggest Economic Opportunity of the Century, UN Climate Chief Says – Global Issues
NAIROBI, Sep 05 (IPS) – With less than 100 days to go until COP29, the highest decision-making body on climate issues under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), is getting shorter and the need for creativity and innovation new things. solutions to protect lives and livelihoods are urgent.
The State of the Climate in Africa 2023 report shows that all six African regions have experienced an increase in temperature over the past sixty years. In Africa, the year 2023 was one of the three hottest years in 124 years, resulting in an unprecedented climate carnage. The results are insufficient food, increasing poverty, damage, displacement and loss of life.
But where many see challenges, there are also opportunities.
Speaking at the African Ministers’ Conference on Environment (AMCEN) in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, today, Simon Stiell, UN Climate Change Secretary General, said “climate action is the single biggest economic opportunity of this century. We can and must and it should be Africa’s single greatest opportunity to uplift people, communities, and economies after centuries of exploitation and neglect.”
“The opportunity is enormous. But the cost of the African continent’s careless global warming is enormous. The continent is rising at a faster rate than the global average. From Algeria to Zambia, climate-related disasters are getting worse, causing more suffering to those who do the least. cause them.”
Presented jointly by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the African Union Commission on September 2, 2024, at the 12th Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA12), The climate report shows Africa is equally affected by climate problems as the continent is rising at a slightly faster rate than the global average.
2023 was the hottest year on record for many countries, including Mali, Morocco, the United Republic of Tanzania and Uganda. Warming was fastest in North Africa, with Morocco experiencing the highest temperature.
The report shows that parts of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Zambia, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo experienced severe drought in 2023. After the worst drought in the Greater Horn of Africa, three countries, including Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia, experienced massive and devastating floods, killing at least 352 people and displacing 2.4 million people.
In the midst of great loss and damage, the UN Climate Chief emphasized that in Africa, as in all regions, the climate problem is an economic obstacle, which drags down economic growth and that in fact many African countries are losing. to 5 percent of GDP due to climate impacts. It is African countries and people who are paying the heaviest price.
Placing an additional burden on efforts to eradicate poverty, which can seriously hamper growth, the report shows that many countries are shifting “up to 9 percent of their budgets to unplanned costs to deal with extreme weather events.” By 2030, it is estimated that up to 9 percent of the 118 million people living in extreme poverty—or those living on less than USD 1.90 a day—will experience droughts, floods and extreme heat in Africa if adequate responses are not put in place.
Putting it plainly, Stiell said, “Imagine food production being hit hard, contributing to a resurgence of hunger, while driving up world prices, inflation and the cost of living. Desertification and habitat destruction are causing forced migration. Supply chains have been hit hard by the increase of the effects of the weather,” he said.
Warning that “it would be a complete mistake for any world leader – especially in the G20 – to think: although it is incredibly sad, in the end it is not my problem. The economic and political reality – in an interdependent world – is that we are all in this together. We rise together, together.
In sub-Saharan Africa alone, it is estimated that climate adaptation will cost USD 30 billion to USD 50 billion, which means two to three percent of the region’s GDP per year over the next decade. As COP28 concluded the first-ever stocktaking of global climate measures—the mid-term review of progress on the 2015 Paris Agreement—COP29 has been dubbed the ‘finance COP’—an opportunity to align climate finance contributions with the scale of global needs.
COP29 will also be an opportunity to build on previous achievements, particularly on the heels of the highly successful COP28, whose ambitious commitments include: transitioning away from all fossil fuels rapidly but fairly; tripling renewable energy and doubling energy efficiency; and moving from responding to climate impacts to truly adapting to changing conditions.
While recognizing these huge commitments, Stiell said achieving them will open up gold mines of human and economic benefits including cleaner, more reliable and affordable energy across Africa. More jobs, a stronger local economy, which supports stability and opportunities, especially for women. That electrification and night lighting at home means that children can do homework, improve educational outcomes, with huge productivity gains leading to strong economic growth.
“Cooking with traditional fuels emits nearly as much greenhouse gases 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 outstanding investment for any country.” accounting,” he said. said.
Continuing to emphasize the need to link nature-based climate solutions with biodiversity protection and land restoration, as this will drive progress on all 17 Sustainable Development Goals. However, he stressed, the great potential of African countries to advance climate solutions is hampered by the epidemic of underinvestment.
“Of the more than USD400 billion spent on clean energy last year, only USD2.6 billion went to African countries. Investment in renewable energy in Africa needs to grow at least fivefold by 2030. COP29 in Baku must show that the problem climate change is a core business for every government, with financial solutions to go along with it,” Stiell emphasized.
“It is time to change the script. From the point of possible climate change to major changes in business, investment, and growth. Changes that will strengthen the climate leadership of African countries and the important role in solving the global climate, in all sectors. Your role in I -COP29—and your words at the helm—are more important than ever, to help guide our process toward the most ambitious outcomes the world needs.”
IPS UN Bureau Report
Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
Follow IPS News UN Bureau on Instagram
© Inter Press Service (2024) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
