African heads of state at the recently concluded United Nations Climate Action Summit recommitted themselves to a unified international response to the threats of climate change. The African leaders agree that global warming is a serious threat, and combined efforts are required to combat the menace. They used the opportunity of the international summit to rededicate themselves to saving our planet by taking proactive measures.
As it stands, Africa emits the lowest amount of greenhouse gases in the world. The United States emits more greenhouse gases than the entire African continent. However, South Africa is noted to be one of the 20 top emitters of greenhouse gases in the world – the only African country to be so seen.
To this end, climate experts agree that African countries are prone to climate change and other extreme environmental conditions. Just earlier this year, Mozambique was hit by several cyclones that left significant damage and other countries may be next. Based on this, several African leaders pledged to reduce emissions or release funds for related researches.
The president of Namibia, Hage Geingob, vowed to invest $5 million for studies on how to protect bodies of water from climate change. President of the DRC, Felix Tshisekedi, pledged to cut down on his country’s emissions by 17% over 11 years. And the African Development Bank (ADB) pledged to ban coal-powered plants all around Africa.
Interestingly, Norway vowed to pay Gabon $150 million over ten years for their dedication to fighting global warming. The African country only needs to limit felling trees and protect natural forests to get the yearly payment. Forests and tree-planting are proven to absorb carbon dioxide and reduce global warming.
In March, environmental experts from around Africa met in Ethiopia under the umbrella of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) to deliberate on each country’s efforts towards climate change. International partners agreed to offer additional resources to help committed African leaders to fight off climate change.
“An increase of global temperatures of 2°C by 2050 is going to be catastrophic for Africa,” an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report revealed at the Ethiopia conference.
