Climate Crisis to Persist ‘Until More People in Developed Nations Are Dying,’ Gabonese Minister Says
People walk through floodwaters after heavy rainfall in Hadeja, Nigeria, Monday, Sept 19, 2022. Nigeria is battling its worst floods in a decade with more than 300 people killed in 2021 including at least 20 this week, authorities told the Associated Press on Monday.
Officials in the African country have joined the choir of those concerned over whether the West is willing to take significant action on global warming. One of the central questions is the long announced help for seriously affected regions.Lee White, Gabon’s environment minister, expressed his distrust of the UN climate process, saying that the situation won’t change “until more people in developed nations are dying because of the climate crisis.”“With everything that’s happened in the last year in the Horn of Africa and Pakistan – those places really count,” White said. “But with the once-in-a-500-year drought in Europe, fires in France, and the New York subway becoming Niagara Falls, we might be at a point where things are getting bad enough that developed nations start taking the climate more seriously.” “It’s a horrible thing to say but until more people in developed nations are dying because of the climate crisis, it’s not going to change.”In a statement a week before COP 27, the official expressed a “sense of betrayal” and fear for the future of his children.According to him, the promised financial help for poorer countries ($100 billion yearly, as determined by the COP in 2009) to tackle the consequences of the climate crisis is not reaching those in need.White’s statement comes after Martin Griffiths, the chief of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said last week that he had no idea where the promised $100 billion a year to combat the effects of global warming in developing countries had gone.The minister declared that Gabon is ready to play its part in fighting global warming. While dependent on oil, Gabon is aiming for reforms and recognizes “that the oil industry will disappear.” In White’s opinion, urgent action has to be undertaken.He emphasized: “I have three kids. I tell them that my absences are about trying to save the planet. They get it, because it’s real. We are creating a really big problem for the next generation.”The minister’s statements come ahead of the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference, which is to be held from November 6 to 18, 2022 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
AfricaWill COP27 Address Africa Climate Issues and Loss & Damage Compensation?28 October, 13:36 GMTWhite was not the first to raise the issue of developed countries’ responsibility for global warming and their unwillingness to support the most vulnerable regions.In September, Representatives of 24 African countries issued a collective statement calling for developed nations to act in accordance with their financial commitments related to the climate crisis in Africa.The discontent with Western climate policies is voiced against the backdrop of tragic events in Africa. According to UNEP, while contributing just two or three percent to global gas emissions, Africa suffers disproportionally from the impacts of climate change, such as droughts, floods, and famine.As late as in October 2022, more than 600 people were killed in massive flooding in Nigeria. Since January 2021, a massive drought has displaced one million Somalis .
