The Vice President and Chief Economist of African Development Bank (AFDB), Kevin Urama, has said that Africa has been losing about 5 to 15 percent of its per capita economic growth as a result of climate change impacts.
This is according to the information on the bank’s website disclosing the comments made by Urama in a panel discussion titled “African Countries Ownership in Determining Climate Agenda” at the Egypt International Cooperation Forum (Egypt-ICF 2022) in Cairo.
Despite Africa’s low contribution–3 percent–to climate change, it has been hit the hardest as Increasing temperatures, flooding, drought, and more extreme weather conditions are threatening human health and safety, food and water security, and socio-economic development.
On top of that, the continent has received only $18.3 billion in climate finance between 2016 and 2019, resulting in a climate finance gap of up $1288.2 billion annually from 2020 to 2030, according to Kevin Urama.
The severe impact of climate change and the huge funding gap reflects the crisis that may befall the continent in the future.
Also speaking at the panel was the Egyptian Environment Minister, Yasmine Fouad, who stated that in combating climate change, there is a need for integration among the government, civil society, and the private sector.
Fouad highlighted Egypt’s National Strategy for Alignment for both climate mitigation and adaptation. She asserted that Egypt’s strategy comprised five key pillars. Fouad explained: “the first pillar focuses on how we can adopt a low greenhouse path, which centers on the sectors around renewable transport, gas, industry, and waste. The second one relates to adaptation and how best to make the communities more resilient. The third and fourth ones are focused on how to protect coastal zones and have more accessibility and availability of water. The last one is about the need for developing more smart and integrated concoctions and that’s the stereotype of a strategy on climate”.
The Vice President of AFDB stated that “the global community must meet its $100 billion commitment to help the developing countries and African economies to mitigate the impacts of the climate change and to adapt to it.”
“Investing in climate adaptation in the context of sustainable development is the best way to cope with the climate change impacts, adding that gas must remain included in the continent’s plan for the gradual transition to clean energy.”
In 2009, at a United Nations climate summit in Copenhagen, developed nations committed to a collective goal of channeling $100 billion per year by 2020 in climate financing to developing countries in the context of meaningful climate change mitigation actions. But that pledge has only been partially met.
Meanwhile, OECD’s tracking of the progress since 2015 revealed that USD 83.3 billion was provided and mobilized for climate action in 2020, with USD 16.7 billion short in the target year of the goal.
