Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Geneva — Africa is heating up at a faster rate than the rest of the planet and enduring more severe climate and weather disasters such as droughts, a joint UN-AU report said on Monday, warning that climate change could stoke conflict over resources.
The continent was hit by 80 extreme weather and climate hazards in 2022, said the report, sent by the World Meteorological Organisation to coincide with Africa's first climate summit in Kenya where financing is set to be in focus.
These disasters, such as the Horn of Africa’s worst drought in 40 years and Algerian wildfires, resulted in 5,000 deaths and more than $8.5bn in economic damage, the report showed, citing an emergencies database. The real figures are likely to be higher due to reporting gaps, it said.
“Africa is responsible for only a fraction of global greenhouse gas emissions but is suffering disproportionately from climate change,” the State of the Climate in Africa 2022 report said.
“Climate change and the diminishing natural resource base could fuel conflicts for scarce productive land, water, and pastures, where farmer-herder violence has increased over the past 10 years due to growing land pressure ...,” it added.
Already, communal violence over resources flares up frequently in parts of the semi-arid Sahel. On average, each African produced 1.04 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions in 2021, less than a quarter of the global average.
The report said the average rate of warming in Africa was 0.3°C per decade in the 1991-2022 period, compared with 0.2°C degrees in the world as a whole.
The warming has been fastest in North Africa, which has been subject to multiple heatwaves since in 2022. That contributed to a fall in cereal production to 33-million tonnes or about 10% below the previous five-year average, the report said, though production in other parts of the continent such as West Africa rose amid good rains.
Overall, the report said agricultural productivity has fallen due to climate change, noting a decline of 34% since 1961, which is set to drive up import needs sharply
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Africa endures more severe warming, posing risk of conflict
Climate change might stoke communal violence over resources, says AU-UN report
Geneva — Africa is heating up at a faster rate than the rest of the planet and enduring more severe climate and weather disasters such as droughts, a joint UN-AU report said on Monday, warning that climate change could stoke conflict over resources.
The continent was hit by 80 extreme weather and climate hazards in 2022, said the report, sent by the World Meteorological Organisation to coincide with Africa's first climate summit in Kenya where financing is set to be in focus.
These disasters, such as the Horn of Africa’s worst drought in 40 years and Algerian wildfires, resulted in 5,000 deaths and more than $8.5bn in economic damage, the report showed, citing an emergencies database. The real figures are likely to be higher due to reporting gaps, it said.
“Africa is responsible for only a fraction of global greenhouse gas emissions but is suffering disproportionately from climate change,” the State of the Climate in Africa 2022 report said.
“Climate change and the diminishing natural resource base could fuel conflicts for scarce productive land, water, and pastures, where farmer-herder violence has increased over the past 10 years due to growing land pressure ...,” it added.
Already, communal violence over resources flares up frequently in parts of the semi-arid Sahel. On average, each African produced 1.04 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions in 2021, less than a quarter of the global average.
The report said the average rate of warming in Africa was 0.3°C per decade in the 1991-2022 period, compared with 0.2°C degrees in the world as a whole.
The warming has been fastest in North Africa, which has been subject to multiple heatwaves since in 2022. That contributed to a fall in cereal production to 33-million tonnes or about 10% below the previous five-year average, the report said, though production in other parts of the continent such as West Africa rose amid good rains.
Overall, the report said agricultural productivity has fallen due to climate change, noting a decline of 34% since 1961, which is set to drive up import needs sharply
Reuters
African climate summit opens with focus on funding and unity
IMF: Climate change will escalate conflict in Africa
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Most Read
Related Articles
GRAY MAGUIRE: Why Earth Overshoot Day should get more attention
LORREN DE KOCK: Vested interests should not be allowed to derail plastics treaty
Human Rights Watch says Uganda pipeline is disaster for people and planet
Published by Arena Holdings and distributed with the Financial Mail on the last Thursday of every month except December and January.