Nairobi – Top African officials met this week to discuss the challenges facing Africa in managing a growing population amid climate change. The aim of the conference was to identify how the African government can manage these pressures to reduce or avoid conflict.
Africa produces about%% of global greenhouse gas emissions, the lowest of any continent. But it is more risky than any other region in the world, as Africans rely heavily on their natural environment for food, water and medicine.
Speaking at a virtual conference on Tuesday on Africa’s climate, conflict and demographics, Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said African governments need to keep climate in mind when trying to grow their economies.
“Our first obligation to us and to African countries must always be to ensure the well-being of our people through development services, including access to balanced cooking fuels, including electricity, healthcare, education, safe jobs and a safe environment. We must prioritize solutions that align development and climate programs, and that is absolutely important, ”Osinbajo said.
According to the Brussels-based Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, 5 extreme weather events were recorded in Africa in 2019, compared to 455 in the previous year.
Extreme weather conditions have affected the lives of 16.6 million people in 29 countries. At least 13 million of them were from five countries: Kenya, Mozambique, Somalia, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
West Africa has had fewer meteorological disasters but is feeling the effects of global warming.
Ghana’s Environment Minister Kwaku Afri explains how climate change has affected the country’s agricultural lands.
“The harsh and deteriorating climate of northern Ghana is undoubtedly exacerbated by region-increasing food insecurity and allied north-south migration. Climate-induced disasters in Ghana and even a new internal displacement have occurred outside our borders.
Hannah Teteh, the UN special envoy to the African Union, said information exchange and co-operation across the continent’s borders needed to be improved to address the climate crisis.
“The challenge was not that we have not yet built these structures. The challenge is that we have not yet been able to use them effectively, and this leads to issues of national sovereignty and to the reluctance of other member states, as it were, to take an active interest and perhaps recommend the necessary things to respond to a particular crisis. And if we accept that we are all together, it must change, ”he said.
For specific advice, Osinbajo suggested that the government encourage more use of natural gas and plant more trees to maintain forests that can absorb carbon dioxide and prevent warming of the atmosphere.