The earth’s climate is changing due to the increasing concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that are emitted from various human activities. Particularly, the threat of climate change to the progress of economic prosperity in Africa looms ever larger.
The prevalence of climate-related disasters is unrelenting. It has already affected 180 million people across Africa and the cost of loss and damages is estimated at over 22 billion dollars and counting, according to sources presented during a continental climate summit.
Lately, the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the African Union Commission (AUC), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance, organized a three-day conference themed “Stepping Up Climate Action for a Re¬silient Africa: a Race We Can and Must Win.”
On the occasion, it was noted that about 53 African countries have committed to Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), identifying the need for an estimated USD 3.5 – 4 trillion of investment by 2030.
“Many African countries have submitted ambitious Nationally Determined Con¬tributions to Climate Action – NDCs – showing that African leaders have made strong commitments to tackle climate change while striving to meet their na¬tional development agendas,” said Frehiwot Woldehanna, Ethio¬pia’s State Minis¬ter for Energy Sector, Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy in his opening re¬marks.
Ethiopia, whose electricity sys¬tem is dominated by hydropower was one of the first countries to submit its NDC leading up to the Paris Agreement and was one of the first countries to ratify the agreement. Furthermore, the Climate Action Summit is being organized under nine action areas, one of which is the energy transition being led by Denmark and Ethiopia.
As to the Minister, Ethiopia has adopted different development agendas that incorporate climate resilience and adaptation. These medium and long-term strategies focus on achieving sustainable development goals through a climate-resilient and green development agenda – the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP), the third phase of which will begin next year.
The GTP underpinned by strategic programs, including the Climate Resilience Green Economy Strategy, the Climate Resilient WASH program, the National Green Development Program, and the river corridors irrigation program and others, he underscored.
“As countries raise their climate ambi¬tion, we must remember the fundamental principle of the United Nations Frame¬work Convention on Climate Change, which calls for wide cooperation by all countries and their participation in an effective and appropriate international response, in accordance with their com¬mon but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities and their so¬cial and economic conditions,” he added.
NDC presents an opportunity for the African Devel¬opment Bank (ADB) to contribute to policies and actions that mobilize the financial resources needed to support long-term investments in resilience and Africa’s transition to low carbon development said James Kinyangi, from ADB.
The Bank has made significant progress in defining the framework for Africa’s development aspirations in the Agenda 2063 and is keen to contribute to the agenda 2030 on Sustainable Development particularly SDG 13 which calls for urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
The first urgent action is to build Resilience and Adaptation to the adverse impacts of climate change for the most vulnerable communities across Africa.
Having signed and ratified the Paris Agreement, nearly all African countries are now committed to Climate Action in support of building resilience through early warning systems, comprehensive risk assessment and management, and risk insurance. The governments and people of the affected countries are taking bold action, he added.
In 2018, the Bank allocated 1.6 billion dollars to climate adaptation actions and leveraged additional resources across the five operational areas that guide the Bank’s focus on strengthening the adaptive capacities of its regional member countries.
Through the Climate and Development in Africa Programme (ClimDev), the Bank is investing $17 million to modernize Africa’s climate and weather observation networks-providing access to satellite data and delivering services to offer timely and reliable weather and climate forecasts.
“So now this conference is happening at a defining moment, as African countries seek to find common approaches to transition towards low-carbon and climate-resilient economies.”
Africa contributes the least to global emissions but is already suffer¬ing the most adverse impacts of cli¬mate change. “The Continent contributes under 6 percent of emissions, with per capita emissions of only 0.8 tons per year, well below the global mean of 5 tons, and far lower than for other regions such as Eu¬rope and Asia said Aida Opoku-Mensah Chief of Staff, Economic Commission for Afri¬ca.
“This is the last wake-up call to all coun¬tries to raise their game and step up cli¬mate action for multiple social, econom¬ic and environmental wins,” she stressed.
Africa has all form of resources. The problem is lack of action and cooperation to utilize it. “So besides thousands of beautiful words, concrete action is needed from all stakeholders to make sure African economies are resilient,” said Mithika Mwenda, Executive Director of the Pan Africa Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA).
The Ethiopian Herald September 5, 2019
BY MULATU BELACHEW
