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Rabat – African leaders urged wealthier nations on Friday to uphold their pledges to aid the continent in its fight against climate change, arguing that Africa is being hit disproportionately by a worldwide climate crisis to which it has only minimally contributed.
In a statement released at the end of the second edition of the Egypt-International Cooperation Forum (Egypt-ICF), the leaders urged “developed countries to fulfill their pledges in relation to climate and development finance, and deliver on their commitments to double adaptation finance, in particular to Africa.”
One of their chief arguments is that, despite the continent contributing miniscule amounts to worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, it has been on the devastating end of the far-reaching impact of climate change.
African countries have seen the effects of the phenomenon become more and more pronounced in recent years, they argued, pointing out that bouts of extreme weather have been more common across the continent.
Extreme droughts and floods have affected agricultural performance, and wildfires have destroyed thousands of hectares throughout Africa.
According to the African Development Bank, African countries will need to secure and mobilize $1.6 trillion between 2022 and 2030 to meet their nationally determined emissions goals.
Having only received $18.3 billion annually, they still have a financing gap of $108 billion a year.
The three-day conference in Egypt comes ahead of the international COP27 conference that the African country is set to host in Sharm El-Sheikh in November.
Funding to help poor countries is set to be a key point of COP27, but despite deals and promises made at similar conferences, critics and international bodies maintain that the world is still lagging behind when it comes to mitigating the effects of the global climate emergency.
The UNDP’s latest Human Development Report cites climate change as one major element leading to elevated levels of stress and anxiety worldwide, especially as citizens of less developed countries continue to suffer the most extreme consequences.
