Diana Kibuuka
“Africa needs funding from countries that have got rich off its suffering – They owe a climate debt – but climate change in Africa is more than just solar panels”. Director of energy and climate think-tank, Power Shift Africa, Mohamed Adow.
Described as a financing summit by the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Kenya Stephen Jackson in his statement as Africa prepared for the Africa Climate that took place in Nairobi Kenya last month – The summit was a platform for Africans to boldly tell their climate change story of adaptation and resilience if the continent is to be seen reversing the hard face of climate change that has made it vulnerable to; Accelerating temperatures, Floods, Failing Agricultural productivity causing food insecurity, Populations displacement and conflict.
The State of Climate in Africa 2022 report, produced jointly with the African Union Commission and Africa Climate Policy Centre of United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), that has been released during the Africa Climate Summit, which has also seen the launch of Early Warnings For All in Africa Action Plan, indicates that, Africa, like other regions, has come to terms with the reality
that climate change is already happening and therefore, there’s need for a common African voice, for Africa to solve her climate change problems and those of the whole world, since the continent is looked at as a key Carbon sink and a number one solution to the raising global temperatures that currently stand at 1.2℃.
Much as Africa would be a solution to the climate change crisis, the continent’s climate finance base for climate adaptation and resilience is only a drop in the ocean of what is needed.
In 2019 and2020, an average annual climate finance commitment of $11.4 billion was made by
donors to adaptation measures in Africa. When compared to the annual financing needs of $52.7 billion required for adaptation measures by 2030, the financing gap equals $41.3 billion per year.
According to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) an African Climate
Policy Centre, the loss and damage costs in Africa due to climate change are projected to range between US$ 290 billion and US$ 440 billion, depending on the degree of warming.
However, Dr.Magalie Masamba, Senior Associate in Development Finance at ZeniZeni Sustainable Finance and Senior Fellow at African Debt Justice Network, argues that, African leaders and their financiers hold the key to unlock the potential impacts of climate finance under a shared responsibility to ensure that climate financing is adequate, fit-for-purpose and delivers tangible outcomes for
African citizens.
Driving Green Growth & Climate Finance Solutions For Africa And The World agenda, a theme for the Africa Climate Summit, Dr. Olumide Abimbola, Founder and Director of Africa Policy Research Institute, says Africa has much of the minerals that the world requires to power the green transition and calls on African governments to stop exporting the minerals but rather ensure that value addition happens on the continent
Agriculture is the mainstay of Africa’s livelihoods and national economies – supporting more than 55% of the labor force. But its agricultural productivity growth has declined by 34% since 1961 due to climate change. This decline is the highest compared to what other regions of the world, ever experienced.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – IPCC, hunger already affects
240 million Africans daily and by 2050, a projected increased warming of between 1.2℃ to 1.9℃, is likely to increase the number of malnourished in Africa by 25% to 95%, of which the 25% per cent is expected in Central Africa, 50% East Africa, 85% in Southern Africa and 95% in West Africa.
If the warming is allowed to hit the 3℃ mark, all present-day cropping areas for maize, millet and sorghum in Africa will become unsuitable. This would be devastating for Africa’s food security as sorghum and millet are both vitally important cereals in most African diets, and maize accounts for almost half of the calories and protein consumed in southern and eastern Africa.
The extreme heat stress per year over the coming decades, will also make it increasingly difficult to raise livestock, because of Africa’s dwindling availability of water. Up to 95 per cent of the continent’s farmers do not have irrigation systems or water reservoirs, meaning they are entirely reliant on rainfall.