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Read, Debate: Engage.
| topic: | Climate Change |
|---|---|
| editor: | Bob Koigi |
As the impacts of climate change become more pronounced and felt world over, Africa is choking under these effects as it struggles with poor infrastructure, lack of early warning systems and external factors that have conspired to reverse some of the hard-won gains.
From prolonged droughts to overwhelming floods, these climate stresses are hitting households, communities, ecosystems and economies at unprecedented rates. Now more than ever the extreme weather conditions have disrupted food and water security, taken a toll on human health and safety and affected social economic development.
The phenomenon has led to the displacement of people and has already sparked conflict over natural resources in many areas across the continent, a situation that could exacerbate.
Despite Africa accounting for just three percent of all global greenhouse gas emissions, it is paying the ultimate price.
Yet, Africa has not put in place the requisite measures to tame the worsening scenario. For example, only 40 percent of the population has access to early-warning systems to cushion them from extreme weather events and the vagaries of climate change.
Which is why the recently released report by the World Meteorological Organisation is a wake-up call to African leaders and decision makers to expedite actions in order to contain what threatens to be a climate catastrophe.
The report dubbed The State of the Climate in Africa 2021 is sounding the alarm on the devastating correlation between the extreme weather and conflict taking place in the continent. Its recommendations, ranging from bolstering warning systems, boosting transboundary cooperation, enhancing knowledge-sharing and increasing investment in adaptation should be prioritised by governments and private sector players.
In the words of World Meteorological Organisation Secretary-General, Petteri Taalas: “The worsening crisis and looming famine in the drought-stricken Horn of Africa shows how climate change can exacerbate water shocks, threatening the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and destabilising communities, countries and entire regions.”
Photo by Bernd Dittrich
