Nairobi (Agencies)
The effects of global warming are costing African countries up to 5% of their economic output, Simon Steele, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, said yesterday, calling for more investment to help adapt to climate change.
The African continent, which includes 54 countries, receives only one percent of the annual global climate finance despite bearing the brunt of the impacts of climate change and emitting much less polluting emissions than industrialized countries.
“The climate crisis is a chasm that is swallowing the momentum of economic growth,” Steele said at a meeting of African environment ministers in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
African governments and climate negotiators are considering different strategies at a preparatory meeting in Côte d’Ivoire for the UN climate change conference, COP29.
Although the continent has attracted new investors in climate change mitigation and adaptation projects in recent years, it is receiving a tiny fraction of the $100 billion in financing available globally, African government officials say.
They added that this part represents a drop in the bucket compared to the $1.3 trillion required, without specifying a time frame for the required amount.
“Africa’s enormous potential to drive climate solutions forward is being thwarted by a lack of investment,” Steele said.
He added that the required investments include $4 billion annually to eliminate the use of traditional cooking fuels such as wood, which release greenhouse gas emissions.
“Of the more than $400 billion spent on clean energy last year, only $2.6 billion went to African countries,” he continued.
There are growing calls to secure more climate finance for Africa in the run-up to COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, Steele said.
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