Around 90 heads of state are expected to attend the 27th UN Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP27) to be held in Egypt next week.
This is a timely moment to reflect on why this conference is particularly important for the continent that is hosting it this year.
Yet communities across the continent are among the hardest hit as climate change exacerbates food insecurity, water scarcity and extreme heat.
For example, the last four consecutive rainy seasons in the Horn of Africa have failed. This has left millions of people suffering from the worst drought in 40 years.
Across the continent, such as in South Africa and Uganda, we have witnessed the worst floods and landslides in living memory, destroying homes and livelihoods.
Taken together with the threats the continent’s flora and fauna face, Africa is now the most climate-vulnerable. These vulnerabilities could inevitably lead to more displacement and migration.
In July, Uganda hosted a three-day Regional Inter-Ministerial Conference on Migration, Environment and Climate Change.
This meeting brought together heads of state and ministers from East Africa and the Horn of Africa to discuss some of the effects of environmental degradation.
As our understanding of these threats improves, there is wider recognition that more funding must be dedicated to help developing countries to adapt to climate change.
Developed countries have collectively acknowledged that they should take the lead in mobilising the funds needed to address the problem.
This upholds the principle of the “common but differentiated responsibility” under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The principle recognises that all states are responsible—but not equally responsible—for addressing global environmental destruction.
Annual adaptation costs in developing countries are estimated at $70 billion (Sh8.5 trillion), rising to $140-300 billion by 2030.
At a UN climate summit in 2009, all developed countries agreed to provide $100 billion in annual finance by 2020 until 2025 to help developing nations to tackle climate change.
This pledge has not been met fully and, on current estimates, is likely to continue to fall short in the coming years.
As we look ahead to COP27, what outcomes should we seek for Africa? Amid discussions about Africa’s unexplored gas fields, it will be important to secure clear commitments to support its road maps to climate adaptation.
The continent has a bold Africa-led adaptation plan, the African Adaptation Acceleration Program, which needs to be sufficiently supported and resourced. And it needs support to implement its mitigation programmes.
Development partners can promote green economic development. They can help the continent to harness its immense potential to access solar power and enable the low-carbon and circular economy.
It’s crucial to recognise that climate finance is now an urgent priority for Africa. Developed countries need to meet their obligations to support wider implementation of the climate finance delivery plan.
For communities across Africa, climate change is not just a distant threat.
The continent has many vulnerabilities and the risk to human life, livelihoods and the environment is real. This is why COP27 should serve as a call for action—not just for the continent but our planet.
World leaders convening in Sharm el Sheik for the conference need not ask for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee.
