A study by the second of three working groups of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change – a community made up of scientists and contributors from 195 countries- on the dangers of climate change and societal adaptation has shown that rising temperature will have a global impact but African countries will be the most affected. It also found that many African countries can barely contain the problems of dealing with climate change such as drought and famine.
Research by the New Humanitarian states that drought has created a disastrous situation for about 6.9 million people. African Development Bank also stated that despite Africa’s low contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, it remains the most vulnerable continent to climate change impact.
In the report by IPPC, they also highlighted the grave consequences of a temperature increase above 1.5°C in Africa. Between 2008-2011, drought had caused a huge economic loss annually causing a UNED commissioned research which revealed that an estimated $50 billion yearly, will be needed for Africa to adapt to any changes above 2°C
In the light of this, all African countries collectively agreed to take necessary climate action and ensure that the global temperature is kept at nothing more than 2°C above the pre-industrial level.
Following the ratification of the Paris agreement, all African countries have committed to enhancing climate action by outlining bold rules to aid the building of climate-resilient economies.
Some of the measures include reduction in greenhouse gas emission and building resilience for continental adaptation to the adverse effect of climate change.
While reasons for Africa’s vulnerability to climate change are diverse, some range between;
- Low levels of adaptive capacity
- Poor technology diffusion
- Lack of any information relevant to adaptation.
There is proof that these changes provide opportunities for the continent to harness huge resource potential as addressing climate change will create significant opportunities, especially for the private and institutional sectors of the continent.
References:
BBC News, How Africa will be affected by climate change, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-50726701, accessed 29 March 2022
WFP, ‘Hunger Hotspots: 4 countries face famine, UN report warns,’ https://www.wfp.org/stories/hunger-hotspots-4-countries-face-famine-un-report-warns, accessed 29 March 2022.