ADDIS ABABA (March 3rd, 2003) — On Thursday, African experts and pan African organizations marked African Environment Day by emphasizing the need to address the continent’s climate change-induced disasters.
The Organization of African Unity (OAU), which was the predecessor to the African Union, established Africa Environment Day in 2002 as a way to raise awareness about the urgent environmental issues facing the continent. In honor of the legacy of the late Nobel laureate in nature conservation, the Africa Environment Day is celebrated together with Wangari Maathai Day since 2012.
In an effort to address the twin impacts of climate change, the African continent has been preparing to give its full attention to integrating sustainable environment management into the main development policies at both the continental and national levels.
Experts however stated that, despite the admirable efforts being made to counter the impacts of climate change on the continent, it is urgent to intensify efforts to end the scourge.
Adefris, a senior forestry expert at Ethiopia’s Environment, Forest and Climate Change Commission, stated that climate change is increasing in Africa due to a variety of factors, including the expansion and growth of the agricultural sector.
Agriculture, which is the backbone for African economies, is one of the main drivers of desertification. An increasing number of people is causing a decrease in forest area across Africa.
“Desertification has become a major threat to Africa. “Desertification is becoming a very serious threat to Africa. This is why African countries need to make strategic interventions and develop a strategy to combat it,” Worku said to Xinhua in a recent interview.
In its call for action on Thursday, the AU stressed that Africa continues to face serious environmental challenges. It stated that climate change, biodiversity loss, desertification and unsustainable use finite natural resources continue to be a significant threat to Africa’s ability to achieve the Agenda 2063’s sustainable development goals.
Although the AU acknowledged that environmental deterioration has exacerbated crisis such as droughts or armed conflicts on the continent, it stressed that sustainable environmental management was fundamental to the pursuits of food security, security, stability, and peace in Africa.
“To address the twin impacts of climate change, and desertification,” said the pan-African bloc.
According to the UN Economic Commission for Africa’s (UNECA) latest figures, Africa is the most affected continent in terms climate change. Despite being just 17 per cent of the world’s population, and emitting only 4 per cent of global pollution.
Linus Mofor, an ECA senior environmental expert, said Wednesday that African economies are losing on average 5 per cent of their GDP due to climate change. Some countries are experiencing a 15 percent increase in temperature.
Mofor spoke during a virtual meeting about partnerships for tools, capacities and climate resilience to integrate in investments for sustainable growth. He stated that in the absence global concerted action to keep warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius, African countries need to be provided with the tools, capacities, and tools needed to integrate climate resilient in the massive investments required to close the development gaps.
Mofor stated that African countries have shown “great leadership on climate action”, stating that “all but two African nations have ratified the Paris Agreement with ambitious nationally determined contributions, which will require up to 3 trillion U.S. Dollars for implementation.”
Despite the challenges, African countries have taken ambitious steps to limit the rapid expansion and desertification of the continent, thus reducing the impact of climate change on communities’ livelihoods.
The Great Green Wall (or Great Green Wall of the Sahara) and the Sahel Initiative, was launched by the African Union in 2007 with the overarching goal of planting a wall of trees across Africa at the Sahara desert’s southern edge. This initiative is part of the African-led initiatives aiming at restoring Africa’s degraded landscapes.
The UN Convention to Combat Desertification, (UNCCD), states that the Great Green Wall Initiative will be a living structure covering 8,000km of land across the entire continent. It will span from Senegal, West Africa to Djibouti, East Africa.
Worku says that Ethiopia, which is one of the signatory states of the initiative, views the ambitious project as “a very significant and relevant strategy to fight desertification and ensure sustainable growth in the country.”
More than 20 African countries have taken up the initiative to restore 100m hectares of degraded land and sequester 250m metric tons of carbon in the next three years. Enditem
