A U.N. official stated on Monday that Africa has contributed the least to greenhouse gas emissions despite experiencing some of the worst effects. By 2030, the continent will lack $2.5 trillion in the funding it needs to combat climate change.
South Africa needs $2.8 trillion in investments in the renewable energy industry by 2030 but only receives 2% of global investments in this area.
Chief economist Hanan Morsy of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa cautioned about the repercussions of underfunding at a conference in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.
Laptops 1000“We end up in a vicious circle with investment shortfalls increasing exposure risk and worsening impact, further eroding fiscal space and raising finance costs,” she stated.
Climate change costs African countries 5% of GDP yearly, even though their emissions are lower than those of other continents, according to Morsy.
According to a joint U.N.-African Union research last year, each African produced 1.04 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions on average in 2021—less than a fifth of the global average.
The average warming rate in Africa between 1991 and 2022, according to the analysis, was 0.3 degrees Celsius per decade, whereas the global average was 0.2 degrees.
According to Morsy, “the situation is further compounded by heavy public debt,” and African nations pay 1.7 percentage points more in interest on their debt than their counterparts. “Countries are spending more servicing their debt than on climate action.”
Laptops 1000Reforming the global financial architecture was advocated by several speakers at the UNECA summit. UNECA Executive Secretary Claver Gatete stated, “We must address the issue of unfair risk perceptions and credit ratings that offer Africa limited borrowing options.”
Citing data from the UN Development Programme, he calculated that Africa was losing as much as $74.5 billion due to the subjectivity of credit ratings.
