….As Continent Accounts For Less Than 1% Of Global Spending
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has projected that Sub-Saharan African countries could spend an estimated $30-50 billion per year on climate change adaption initiatives over the next decade.
In view of the huge funding requirement amid low revenues in the countries, the organization predicted that Africa faced an increasingly heavy toll from climate change with many countries having to spend up to 9% of their budgets battling climate extremes.
To mitigate the impact of the climate extremes on the nations in the continent, the global body canvassed the need for national governments in Africa to invest more in state meteorological and hydrological services and to speed up the implementation of early warning systems to save lives.
The CMO, which is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, on Monday noted that despite producing far lower greenhouse gas emissions than other continents, Africa’s temperatures had risen more rapidly than the global average.
According to the latest WMO’s ‘State of the Climate in Africa 2023’report survey findings, African countries are now losing on average 2%-5% of gross domestic product responding to deadly heat waves, heavy rains, floods, cyclones, and prolonged droughts.
The organisation’s warning came on the heels of efforts by African countries governments’ are considering how to use this year’s U.N. COP meetings to secure a bigger share of global climate financing.
Interestingly, the 54-nation continent has been attracting more funds for climate mitigation and adaptation projects in recent years.
But then, report from the governments in August this year indicated that the continent was still getting less than 1% of annual global climate financing.
