The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) is scheduled to take place in Glasgow, Scotland between the 31st of October and the 12th of November 2021 and much of the focus will be on the issue of global warming, which has since seen the global surface temperature rising to +2.0°C or +3.6°F.
The effects of climate change, which are primarily influenced by greenhouse gases and human-induced emissions, are now being felt throughout the world. In recent weeks, continents such as Europe, Asia and North America have been wallowing under excessive heat waves, floods, hailstorms, earthquakes and mudslides due to the repercussions of climate change, with properties and life being lost.
However, the effects of climate change are not only limited to those in the northern parts of the equator. Africa is the worst hit continent when it comes to the effects of climate; it is the continent that produces the least amount of carbon emissions but is the one that bears the brunt. Droughts and floods are now the norm which has left, leaving many countries food insecure. Deserts such as the Kalahari and Sahara are also increasing in length, destroying arid and pasture land in the process.
Last year, the Victoria Falls, situated between Zimbabwe and Zambia, witnessed its lowest water levels due to the effects of climate change and recently the city of Lagos in Nigeria has been battling with excessive rain, which brought flooding and there is now an outbreak of cholera.
From swarms of locusts to floods and excessive drought, the effects of climate change are reverberating throughout the continent and with the global surface temperature at above 2°C more woes are imminent. However, all hope is not lost as the continent can still rid itself from the climate change atrocities.
To better understand how the continent can shield itself from looming natural disasters, I interviewed Dr. Jackson Kinyanjui, an agro-climatologist from Kenya and Mr. Musa Tanko convenor of ClimatEducate Project based in Nigeria.
“Climate change is not only constrained to a country because as much as we are talking about the problems, the causes of climate change are usually regional but the effects are mostly global. So Africa is set to experience the same problems that are being felt by other continents such as North America, Europe and Asia but the difference is that Africa is the least adapted and does not have enough resources to cushion itself from the effects of climate change, because some of these continents actually have the capacity and technology to recover from such events but Africa lacks the adaptive capacity to actually recover from the effects of climate change,” Dr. Kinyanjui explained.
However, Dr. Kinyanjui lauded the continent for having come up with ways that are mitigating the ravaging effects of climate change,
“African countries have done a lot in mitigating the effects of climate change but as a continent we are not ready for any natural disasters that might come our way due to the issue of financial constraints. Now, we are now using nature-based solutions such as the planting of trees and cutting down on emissions. But, if we had the financial means, we would use more drastic means that would help in the mitigation on the effects of climate change.
“Moreover, Africa has a population of more than 1.2 billion, this calls for urgent mitigation measures because they are saying the largest percentage of refugees, from Africa and globally, is from the effects of climate change. So, these measures, we can categorise them into short term and long term but, as for now, scientists have proved that greenhouse gases are the largest contributors of climate change. So as long we cut down our greenhouse emissions in terms of methane and carbon emissions then we are safe, so we are calling for the use of electric vehicles, walkways, renewable energy, planting of more trees as they are known to be carbon sequesters and protection of our land and water masses.”
Mr. Tanko shared Dr Kinyanjui’s sentiments, stating that the continent was now reeling from the effects of climate change. Nevertheless, he acknowledged the strides that are being taken by different African States in combating the effects of climate change.
“In 2019, we saw the devastating effects of Cyclone Idai in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Most of the coastal cities will experience an alarming rise in sea level thereby displacing many communities in the process, whilst inland communities along the river banks will be flooded continuously. And also drought and acute dryness will persist in the Sahel.
“However, huge projects like the Great Green Wall will have a positive impact against desert encroachment in the Sahel. The Great Green Wall, which is an 8,000km forest cutting across Burkina Faso, Djibouti, Eriteria, Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan and Chad is a project which is intended to save against the encroachment of the Sahara desert into most parts of the Sahel. So the most important project for climate change mitigation in Africa should be channeled towards reforestation; more trees should be planted because that would go a long way in decreasing acute dryness. As a continent, we are doing well to mitigate the ravaging effects of climate change. Countries like Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa are doing well in the issue of mitigation, so I think the continent is doing something about the issue of climate change,” said Mr. Tanko.
Dr. Kinyanjui advised the continent to make use of renewable forms of energy and the need to educate people about the issue of climate change.
“To limit the effects of climate change, Africa needs to embark on tree planting, cutting down on emissions and contributing to the Paris Agreement, where every country was supposed to add its voice to the nationally determined contributions, so as long as each country does not go the way of using fossil fuels and embrace the use of green energy then there is a lot the continent can do. The continent can also embrace the use of nuclear energy and renewable energy such as solar, wind, water and geothermal as opposed to the use of fossil fuels. So these are some of the few things Africa can do.
“Moreover, there is an urgent need to educate and inform people about the issue of climate change. We can make use of social media platforms, door-to-door campaigns and governments across the continent can make sure that climate change is part of the schools’ curriculum so that students can learn about climate change from a tender age. That is why most African countries are now developing the climate change learning strategy.”
Image credit: Andrzej Kryszpiniuk
As Africa is faced with numerous man made disasters, ranging from political corruption, political insatiability, communal, ethnic and religious war, another doom facing African continent with no legislative action insight, or awareness is CLIMATE CHANGE. In Niger Delta of Nigeria whose their land have been brutally destroyed, their Sea polluted because of crude oil exploration activities by multinational oil companies and continuous pipeline vandalism have resulted to lost of Earth Ecosystem in the region. This obviously has led to hunger, diseases emanating from drinking contaminated water, and displacement of peasants who’s their livelihood revolved in Agriculture. Since Nigeria signed the Paris Agreement, an international deal aimed at tackling climate change. Nigerian Government validated the agreement in 2017 and has pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2030 with the condition of 45% of international support. But with reality on ground this has only reflected on paper work not in action to mitigate the climate disaster. Another challenge that indicate long term climate disaster in Nigeria is the level of climate illiteracy among Nigerians. Majority of Nigerians especially those affected are on unaware of climate change. The cause of this is not something to be surprise anyway since many Nigerians are living below poverty line, many are illiterates with no access to classroom education. This is not going to be an easy task. Yet all hope are lose, since few young climate activists are rising up to create awareness and hold multinational oil companies and Nigerian government accountable. Also is good to see other climate activists in Africa joining in global climate discussion in demanding for action.
With brutal political and cooperate reality in Nigeria is not going to be easy, but we will continue this struggle to stop further destruction of our Earth Ecosystem.