The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Africa Region, on Tuesday issued a dire warning about the devastating impacts of climate change on African youth and called for urgent action to address the issues and involve youth in decision making positions.
“As drought and food insecurity take hold, we see again that Africa is one of the most vulnerable regions to the effects of climate change and its related disasters,” said Mohammed Mukhier, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Regional Director for Africa. “IFRC is deeply concerned about the disproportionate level of protection risks against children across Africa posed by climate-related disasters. Anticipating need and taking effective action is essential.”
Mukhier cited child labour, lower school attendance, childhood marriage, lack of access to clean water and WASH facilities as problems exacerbated by climate change.
“The consequences of these are felt today and will continue to undermine children’s protection for years to come,” he said. “We need to invest more in preventative action including anticipatory action with a specific lens on child protection.”
According to the African Development Bank, Africa remains the continent most vulnerable to climate change, despite historically contributing dramatically less GHGs to the global atmosphere. To achieve its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by 2030, the continent will require more than $3 trillion in adaptation and mitigation.
In 2019, Mozamabique, Zimbabwe, and the Bahamas were most impacted by extreme weather, according to the Global Climate Risk Index 2021.
Some other takeaways from the Germanwatch GCRs 16th annual report:
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Between 2000 and 2019, Puerto Rico, Myanmar and Haiti were the countries most affected by the impacts of extreme weather events.
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Altogether, between 2000 and 2019 over 475 000 people lost their lives as a direct result of more than 11 000 extreme weather events globally and losses amounted to around US$ 2.56 trillion (in purchasing power parities).
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Storms and their direct implications – precipitation, floods and landslides – were one major cause of losses and damages in 2019. Of the ten most affected countries in 2019, six were hit by tropical cyclones. Recent science suggests that the number of severe tropical cyclones will increase with every tenth of a degree in global average temperature rise.
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The global COVID-19 pandemic has reiterated the fact that both risks and vulnerability are systemic and interconnected. It is therefore important to strengthen the resilience of the most vulnerable against different types of risk (climatic, geophysical, economic or health-related).
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After the international climate policy process stalled in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic expectations regarding progress on the long-term finance goal and adequate support for adaptation and L&D lie in 2021 and 2022. The process needs to deliver: a) a decision on how the need for support for vulnerable countries concerning future loss and damage is to be determined on an ongoing basis; b) the necessary steps to generate and make available financial resources to meet these needs; and c) strengthening the implementation of measures for adapting to climate change.
While most African countries are committed to the Paris Agreement, meeting the goal of keeping global temperatures below 2 degrees C will require significant input of cash, assistance with capacity building, and access to the latest technologies. The call for this assistance is all the more urgent following the release of a draft report from the International Panel on Climate Change warning the devastating impacts of climate change will “reshape” life on the planet within 30 years, even if society acts aggressively immediately to curtail greenhouse gas emissions.