Africa Needs to Persist for Special Status on Climate Finance: Expert

Ena  December  24/2019 Africa needs to persist for the continent's special status on climate finance to mitigate climate change induced impacts, environmental expert said.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, an award-winning development and environmental expert, Eugene N. Nforngwa, said though Africa’s contribution to global emission is less than 4 percent, its vulnerability to climate change impacts still high.

He asserted that as the rest of the world is warming, African countries are getting warmer twice faster, which makes every nation to feel the effects of a changing climate.

So, he said, the international community should recognize for the continent to be granted a particular considerations to allow it more resources to curb the impacts of climate change.

African countries should have to push for the continent to be given special considerations in the move to mitigate climate-related calamities though its global emission contribution is negligible, he added.

 “We still contribute as small as four percent of global emission of greenhouse gasses, this has to be recognized and supported by flow of finances and the flow of technology and all kind of support African countries need to be able to respond properly to climate change,” he said.

All the efforts that African governments are putting in reducing poverty, increasing access to health care, improving infrastructure, would be negated by the impacts of climate change, Nforngwa noted.

The expert pointed out that climate change is not only affecting people in terms of reducing their capacities to produce food, but it has also direct impact on infrastructure which is not available in large quantities across the continent.

“The response to climate change in terms of finance and in terms transferring technology, in terms of helping African countries to build responsive capacities, and also help these African countries to contribute to mitigating climate change must be skilled up to reflect these special circumstances”, the expert underscored.

The impacts of climate change such as sea level rise, ice loss and extreme weather increased during 2015-2019, which is set to be the warmest five-year period on record, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

Recently, climate related-catastrophe persists to cause unprecedented damage in various parts of the East Africa region, including Ethiopia.

Ethiopian National Meteorology Agency is providing latest possible weather forecast as part of its early warning in a move to lessen climate induced disasters.   

Information and Climatology Director at the Agency, Melese Lemma, said the Agency releases updated forecast three times a year to create awareness and give emergency alerts coordinating with international agencies.

“Our forecasting is not based on only from our own forecast; we have not sophisticated models. We use international forecasting models. There are international forecasting centers which disseminates information. For instance, the Pacific Ocean has been given forecasting for so longtime combining the three months events to be happened like ways Indian Ocean.So, we take international outputs,” Melese stated.

African countries have been calling on the world to consider the continent as a special case in terms of implementation of the Paris Agreement and climate finance during the recent COP 25 Summit in Madrid, Spain.

The Paris Agreement is an agreement reached at the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP 21) in Paris, France, where the world’s nations undertook a determined course to reduce climate change.