Africa expects action - and funding - for climate justice

(Context, 31 Mar 2023) With top scientists warning that Africa is paying an intolerable price for the impacts of climate change, it’s time for the rich world to honor its pledges on climate finance and investment.

Ban Ki-moon is 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations and Patrick Verkooijen is CEO of the Global Center on Adaptation

The latest report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) came with all the usual warnings of the calamities that will befall us if we do not stop global warming now.

But this is hardly news in Africa, where people are already living with some of the worst effects of climate change – a problem they did not cause and are powerless to stop.

It is the rich world’s accumulated greenhouse gas emissions that are inflicting devastating droughts or torrential floods across vast swathes of the continent. It is here where hunger is on the rise and decades of economic and social progress have been thrown into reverse. Worse, African countries are having to borrow more, and get deeper into debt, to recover after climate disasters. How is this fair?

Too little, too late

The IPCC report puts climate justice into sharp focus. It says: “Prioritizing equity, climate justice, social justice, inclusion and just transition processes can enable adaptation and ambitious mitigation actions and climate-resilient development.”

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Context, 31 Mar 2023: Africa expects action - and funding - for climate justice