Africa: The Victim Of The Climate Crisis Without Negligible Cause

Africa has been the victim of lots of global development programs as the main possessor of a large percentage of the needed natural resources that are in demand for survivability of human beings and preservation of the earth against climate change. The advanced world continues to systematically exploit the Continent for their good and, when it comes to paying the cost of catastrophic effects caused by the same developed nations, Africa feels the pain as the case in the ongoing climate change and greenhouse gas emissions. The Continent is forced and coerced through global arrangements and commitments to cease and abandon some of its major sources of the economic income just because other continents had already caused harm to the earth by fully and mercilessly taking advantage of the same resources years back which ultimately placed them in a better position of high living standard and the economic wellbeing and prosperity.

Accounting for less than 3% of the world's total cumulative greenhouse gas emissions since the beginning of the industrial era, the continent is on the front line of a climate crisis for which it is footing the bill at the expense of other priorities. "Our countries are already forced to spend between 2% and 5% of their gross domestic product each year to deal with a problem they did not create. This is one of the most shocking injustices against the continent," Moussa Faki Mahamat, the Chairman of the African Union Commission, said at a summit on Africa's adaptation held in Rotterdam in September, 2022, which the heads of state of industrialized countries had not deemed fit to attend.

HUGE GAP IN CLIMATE CHANGE FINANCES FOR AFRICA:

Africa requires $2.8tn by 2030 to play its part in limiting global heating to 1.5C and to address the impacts of climate change. Yet the whole continent received only $30bn of global climate finance in 2020[ii]. This is an injustice from the part of developed nations that had caused the catastrophe to our climate. Africa could go ahead taking development and economic advantage of climate- related resources which might exacerbate the climate disaster in the World. As for now, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its 2014 report the risks of climate change are unevenly distributed and by 2050, Africa will be the most badly affected continent. Seven of the ten countries most at risk from climate change are in Africa (Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Nigeria, Chad, Ethiopia, Central African Republic and Eritrea). Yet, Africa contributes only four percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Though it is a global collective responsibility to save our Earth against climate change and implement international climate policy, the developed world mainly the United States and Europe need to realistically and practically honor their commitments towards the catastrophe. At the ongoing COP27 summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, the African leaders have reiterated the need of reconsidering the global efforts towards the Continent in terms of funding to address the ongoing climate crises and mitigate the possible effects of the feasible ones in the future. The Senegalese President and President of the African Union, His Excellency, Macky Sall called on the World’s leaders at the Summit to fulfill all climate change commitments, saying the $100-billion pledge is no longer enough and should be raised to $200 billion[iii]. On the same line, the Liberian President His Excellency, George M Weah reminds the global actors in fighting climate change about inequity and imbalance in responding to the concerns of the parties especially those that are the main victims of the actions of the developed industrialized nations ‘We are also saddened to note that in-equity and imbalance still remain between high and low emitters in the climate change architecture, and that the financial flows within still remain disproportionate and unfair to low-emitting countries, especially those with significant carbon capture capability, who are expected to reserve their forests without commensurate benefit to their populations’[iv]. It is unfortunate to see that major climate perpetrators systematically forcing the victims to abandon some of the main sources of their revenues as a commitment to handling the climate change. Yet, they are, at the same time, systematically reluctant to fulfil their commitments. For instance, Liberia possesses more than 43% of the remaining Upper Guinea forests of West Africa and are rich in biodiversity, including endemic animals species and 2000 flowering plants[v]. Therefore, logging is one of the main sources of its revenues, but the sector is tightly regulated in respond to the demand of the international community to address climate change. At least, such a commitment from the least developing nations like Liberia needs to be compensated by global collective efforts to save our planet. Nevertheless, that has never been the case.

Figure 1 From Climate Policy Initiative Climate Finance Needs of African Countries - CPI (climatepolicyinitiative.org)

Current levels of climate finance in Africa fall far short of needs. Africa’s USD 2.5 trillion of climate finance needed between 2020 and 2030 requires, on average, USD 250 billion each year. Total annual climate finance flows in Africa for 2020, domestic and international, were only USD 30 billion (CPI forthcoming), about 12% of the amount needed. The financing gap is significant: All African countries together have a GDP of USD 2.4 trillion (World Bank 2021), implying that 10% of Africa’s current annual GDP needs to be mobilized above and beyond current flows every year for the next 10 years. By contrast, 4.95% of GDP was expended on health in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2019[vi].

CONCLUSION:

Africa contributes only four percent (4%) of global greenhouse gas emissions and 51 out of 53 Africa nations that have submitted Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) that have provided data on the costs of implementing their NDCs. Collectively, they represent more than 93% of Africa’s GDP. Based on this data, it will cost around USD 2.8 trillion between 2020 and 2030 to implement Africa’s NDC (Figure 1)[vii]. This is huge for a Continent that is already struggling to meet other urgently needed projects of its priorities in building infrastructures, investing in education, health and security. Therefore, the climate injustice to Africa needs to be adequately addressed, practically not only through empty commitments.

About the Author:

Dr. Mory Sumaworo (BA, MCL, Cert in PFM Law, Ph.D.)

Lecturer @ Cuttington University Graduate School of Global Affairs and Policy, AMEU Graduate School and Visiting lecturer at Liberian Foreign Service Institute (FSI),

Executive Director of the African Institute for Development Research (AIDER)

CEO of GBI Group of Companies.

[email protected] / [email protected]

Endnotes:

Laurence Caramel, A shocking injustice:' Africa, the continent paying for the effects of a climate crisis it did not cause (2022) 'A shocking injustice:' Africa, the continent paying for the effects of a climate crisis it did not cause (lemonde.fr) accessed on 7/Nov./2022

[ii] Amina JM Mohammed, Africa is being devastated by a climate crisis it didn’t cause. Cop27 must help, (2022), Africa is being devastated by a climate crisis it didn’t cause. Cop27 must help | Amina J Mohammed | The Guardian

[iii] Ahramonlin, Africa needs $200 bln to face climate change ramifications: AU president - Climate change - COP27 - Ahram Online accessed on 9/Nov/2022

[iv] Independent Probe, Weah Addresses COP27, (2022), President Weah Addresses COP-27 - Independent Probe Newspaper accessed on 10/Nov./2022

[v] BioCarbon fund, Liberia Forests Program, https://www.forestcarbonpartnership.org/system/files/documents/Libera%20Forest%20Program%202%20pager.pdf

[vi] Sandra Guzmán, Greta Dobrovich, Anna Balm and Chavi Meattle , Climate Finance Needs of African Countries, Climate Policy Initiative, (June 28, 2022), Climate Finance Needs of African Countries - CPI (climatepolicyinitiative.org) accessed on 10/ Nov/2022

[vii] ibid