Trump’s burning footprint is a wake-up call for Africa’s leaders
What you need to know:
The continent bears the brunt of the negative effects of climate change and global warming.
US President Donald Trump’s announcement that America is withdrawing from the 2015 Paris climate agreement could have disastrous consequences for Africa’s environment and the poor.
While it may be too early to know exactly just how things will unfold in Africa, the immediate concern has to be the impact on the Green Climate Fund.
The Fund calls for developed countries to send $100 billion to developing nations by 2020 to assist in countering climate change. The US agreed to contribute $3 billion to the fund, and so far has paid $1 billion.
Climate change poses an existential threat to Africa. Although the continent produces two per cent of the annual greenhouse gas emissions, it bears the brunt of the negative effects of climate change and global warming.
The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says Africa is expected to warm up to one-and-a-half times faster than the global average, with devastating results.
The current famine and food shortages in the Horn of Africa region, as well as poor harvests that have led to higher food prices in Kenya and other parts of East Africa can be attributed to changing weather patterns brought about by climate change.
Without action it will only get worse. IPCC has warned of a 30 per cent drop in maize yields in Zimbabwe and Zambia by 2050 due to climate change. One study, using IPCC data, found that Chad, Niger and Zambia could lose their entire farming sectors by 2100 if global warming continues at its current pace.
Unpredictable rainfall patterns, prolonged droughts, flooding and other outcomes of climate change will put the lives of millions of Africans, many of whom still live off the land, at risk.
President Trump’s about-turn on the Paris Accord should serve as a wake-up call for Africans to start taking climate change into our own hands. If those that pollute the world’s environment are not willing to step up and help clean it we Africans must roll up our sleeves and do it ourselves.
Thankfully we are not alone. China, the world’s biggest polluter, says it is committed to the Paris Accord “regardless of how other countries’ climate policies change.” Similarly, the European Union has said it “will defend the clean energy transition” despite America’s decision.
African leaders, too, should reconfirm their commitment to the Paris Accord. Environmental conservation is not a handicap to economic growth; rather, it is the bedrock of sustainable development.
Clean energy Advances in clean energy sources like wind, solar and hydro-electricity, coupled with exponential reductions in the cost of their production mean that Africa does not have to face zero-sum choices in powering its industries or lighting up its homes.
The Congo River Basin, for instance, is a critical water catchment area for Africa, and, together with the Amazon, serving as one of the world’s two lungs or carbon sinks.
Managed well, the Congo Basin can produce cheap and clean hydropower for the continent, support life and agriculture, and keep people from cutting down trees for energy.
The mobile telecommunications revolution in Africa has taught us that with a little imagination, enlightened policies and political will the continent can leapfrog across technological chasms that divide it from the rest of the world. We must now apply the same ingenuity and determination to create economic opportunity without destroying our environmental and ecological heritage.
In many cases the damage has already been done and Africa, like the rest of the world, is running out of time. But we must not allow ourselves to be dragged into a race to the bottom, or to abdicate our responsibility to our continent.
Our generation finds itself at a point in history where many countries are looking out for their own interests and the global order we have had until now is being challenged like never before.
The African elite must get off the fence and find the agency to lead the transformation of the continent, including protecting its natural resources. Conserving Africa is too important, too urgent, to be left largely to the West.
If we do not resolve to take advantage of this while we are still in the first chapters of our economic development story, our growth and growing prosperity could be short-lived. We are the authors of our fate, and we are in a unique position to write a new kind of success story.
Kaddu Sebunya is the president of the African Wildlife Foundation; [email protected]
