Luanda - African Union Commissioner Josefa Sacko Tuesday in London reiterated Africa’s role in the global response to climate change.
Josefa Sacko was addressing cascading climate risks during the event held at Chatham House.
She recalled that other parts of the world, especially those most responsible for historical emissions, have a responsibility to assist the continent's efforts and special needs and circumstances.
Angolan diplomat stressed that most studies on impacts, adaptation and vulnerability to climate change restrict their attention to impacts and responses within the same geographical region, addressing very little the cross-border and cascading nature of climate risks.
"It has been shown that the effects of climate change, ranging from extreme weather to food and water insecurity, not only physically cross national borders, but can also affect global processes such as trade, business, conflict and migration," She said.
The official said that societies will be increasingly affected by these complex chains.
According to the AU Commissioner, the latest assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of March 2023 ranks Africa once again among the most vulnerable regions to climate change, where it is expected to experience more frequent and intense heat waves, droughts, floods, storms and forest fires under all emission scenarios.
Commissioner Sacko also said that climate change has become an existential threat for the continent, especially for small island nations, even though Africa has contributed the least to the cause of climate change, accounting for less than four per cent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
"It is the continent that bears the heaviest burden, partly because of its lower adaptive capacity," she said.
As part of the London climate action week, she said that given Africa's vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, the African Union, through the African Heads of State and Government Committee on Climate Change (CAHOSCC) and with the support of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN), as well as the African Group of Negotiators , is working to strengthen the three African Climate Commissions established at COP 22 in Marrakech ( Morocco ).
In 2022, the Assembly of African Heads of State and Government adopted two key continental frameworks: the African Union Strategy and Plan of Action on Climate Change and Resilient Development (2022-2032), which provides for harmonised and coordinated actions to respond to the impacts of climate change, thereby supporting planning for the continent's low-emission future.
The objectives of the strategies are to guide the continent to strengthen its resilience to the negative impacts of climate change and to improve meteorological and climate services in Africa, as well as ecological recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Josefa Sacko disclosed that the African Union is in the early stages of implementing these critical strategies and frameworks and is actively seeking partners to maximize impact.
Jose Sacko, finaly stressed that "there is still a need now for the EU and Africa to come together and address how to move forward on cascading risk issues". VS/ART/DAN/NIC
