01 December 2011. African leaders are at this very moment engaged in talks in Durban, South Africa about climate change and its effects on not just Africa but the world. The UNFCCC (UN Framework Convention on Climate Change) encompasses 194 countries. The talks are to continue for 12 days with the aim of finding a solution and discussing methods of dealing with future problems resulting from climate change.
South African President Jacob Zuma attended the initial talks and said: “For most people in the developing world and Africa, climate change is a matter of life and death. We are always reminded by the leaders of small island states that climate change threatens their very existence. Recently the island nation of Kiribati became the first country to declare that global warming is rendering its territory uninhabitable. They have asked for help to evacuate the population,” he said.
The problem is that Africa is much more vulnerable to the effects of climate change due to widespread poverty which severely limits the means to deal with floods, droughts, crop failure etc. Zuma himself noted that agricultural output in many African countries is expected to decrease by as much as 50% by the year 2050, which will cause serious food shortages. This in turn leads to volatile political situations with displacement of populations and huge numbers of refugees in turn adding increased pressure on limited resources in neighbouring countries. Such is the case at the moment in Kenya with the severe drought in Somalia. South Africa has had some extreme weather conditions leading to severe flooding which can affect the country but they are luckier in being in a better position than most African nations.
President Zuma called for a re-affirmation of the Kyoto Protocol and activating the Green Climate Fund. “The expectation is that you must work towards an outcome that is balanced, fair and credible,” the President said. “We also feel strongly that as an African Conference of the Parties, the COP 17 outcome must recognise that solving the climate problem cannot be separated from the struggle to eradicate poverty.”
South Africa is making an effort in the global programme to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and they have committed to reducing carbon emissions by 34% in 2020 and by 42% in 2025, but that it would only be attainable with strong financial and technical support from developed countries.
We need to keep the issue of climate change at the forefront of people’s minds. Even during this time of economic recession we all have a responsibility to be careful and remember our impact on the developing world.
