Climate Crisis May Have Significant Impact on Africa’s Heritage, National Economies
A father helps his malnourished son to walk near their hut in the village of Lomoputh in northern Kenya Thursday, May 12, 2022. United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths visited the area on Thurs
As the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) is taking place in Egypt, statements by African officials and international organizations have raised concerns over the impact of the climate crisis on regions most vulnerable to its effects.Africa has been facing severe challenges caused by global warming and its consequences. Along with direct threats to the continent’s population, such as floods, droughts, and famine, there are dangers to the region’s economic development and cultural heritage as well.”African sites are really, really in danger because of climate disruptions,” said Lazare Eloundou Assomo, director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre.Ghana’s slave forts, Namibia’s indigenous rock art, and classical era ruins in Maghreb are among many more places of cultural heritage in Africa that are at risk of disappearing due to global warming’s effects. According to research by the African Climate and Development Initiative at the University of Cape Town, 56 heritage sites situated on the coasts face flooding and erosion worsened by rising sea levels. The number could increase to 198 by 2050 if the trajectory of greenhouse gas emissions does not change, said a study published in the scientific journal Nature Climate Change in February.Numerous natural sites are also in danger, including wildebeest migrations in Kenya’s Maasai Mara, as well as the last African glaciers, which may disappear in 30 years no matter how active the humanity’s climate efforts are.Apart from that, the destruction of African heritage has consequences for the economy of the continent, with many jobs in the tourism sector being linked to Africa’s cultural and natural riches.
African Economies Face Grave Consequences Due to Climate Change
According to research conducted by the Christian Aid organization, Africa’s GDP growth rate will fall by up to 64% by the end of the century, even if the aim of limiting global heating to 1.5C is achieved. The GDP growth of Sudan, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad, Djibouti, and Nigeria could be reduced by around 75% under current climate policies.According to UN data, Africa’s contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions is just two or three percent, while the region suffers disproportionally from the climate crisis’ effects.
“[African] countries have contributed the least to cause the problem, and yet they face such grave economic consequences created by others. That is why climate change is a matter of injustice,” said Mohamed Adow, the director of the climate think tank Power Shift Africa.
While the reported need to limit global greenhouse gas emissions persists, the destructive effect of the crisis could be softened by new adaptation policies. This year, the compensation issue was placed on the COP27’s formal agenda, with several European states committing to the creation of a “loss and damage fund” to directly finance the recovery of developing countries from the effects of climate change.
“The fact that African countries will suffer painful economic harm, even if we limit global heating to 1.5C, shows the need for a loss and damage fund to help those on the frontlines of the climate crisis," Adow uttered.
A peculiar fact about the COP27 summit, to which a slate of US media has pointed, is the silence of the United States delegation concerning the loss and damage project. Historically, the US is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases and thus is expected by developing countries to take active part in the climate process. However, recently US climate efforts have been contradictory. Despite President Joe Biden’s promises to take a “whole of government” approach to the global warming issue and even passing an act which included the biggest US government funding of carbon-free energy initiatives in history, he has at the same time supported the fossil fuel industry. In fact, last year he approved the lease of 78 million acres for offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and defended the 30-year-long Willow oil project in Alaska, which aims to produce more than 100,000 barrels of oil a day.At COP27, John Kerry, Biden’s climate envoy, is planning to present a new climate initiative, which includes the introduction of carbon offsets – credits for greenhouse gas emissions that are to be purchased by corporations, with the money going toward creating green energy infrastructure in developing countries and mitigating the effects of climate change there. The project was deemed as controversial and lacking details by several officials of European states, as well as the UN.
