COP27: Africa this World Environment Day

Today we once again mark the World Environment Day as a remembrance of the responsibility we have in holding the earth in trust of current generations.

This year’s theme ‘Only One Earth’ seeks to remind nations, in particular decision makers, of the responsibilities that await them in making decisions that protect rather that destroy the earth.

But as Africa marks this day, the continent is also reminded of the destruction that has come its way even with its near negligible contribution to one of the greatest dangers of our time, climate change.

“Despite having contributed the least to global warming and having the lowest emissions, Africa faces exponential collateral damage, posing systemic risks to its economies, infrastructure investments, water and food systems, public health, agriculture, and livelihoods, threatening to undo its modest development gains and slip into higher levels of extreme poverty,” reads a climate change report by the Africa Development Bank.

The report emphasises the need for the continent’s vulnerability to form the base of progressive discussions, including at the upcoming 27th Conference of Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, that will be held in Egypt in November.

Research commissioned by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) estimates that the cost of adapting to climate change across Africa could reach $50 billion a year by 2050, if the global temperature increase is kept within 2°C above preindustrial levels.

This fact has been described as mankind’s “number one existential threat that needs an urgent, all-out effort to turn things around” by UNEP’s Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

All is however not lost. Kenya, for instance, is playing a pivotal role in shaping the discourse around solutions to climate change particularly for Africa.

This week, Sweden and Kenya cohosted the Stockholm+50, a high level meeting following months of consultations and discussions with individuals, communities, organisations and governments around the world on environment.

The main objective of the Stockholm meeting was to recognise the importance of multilateralism in tackling three of the biggest crises facing the world - climate change, degradation of nature and pollution.

The UN Decade of Action is an ambitious attempt at the world to deliver on the promise of reaching Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. The Decade of Action seeks to Fast-track the solutions to the current challenges of poverty, gender inequality, climate change and closing the finance gap.

Kenya remains at the forefront of countries in Africa seeking an end to the current crisis while at the same time being at the forefront of embracing greener policies that will slow down the progress of not just climate change, but of pollution and also increase the levels of financial inclusion while reducing levels of inequality.

This year’s World Environment Day Campaign #OnlyOneEarth calls for collective transformative action on global scale to celebrate, protect and restore our planet.

Even as the world marks the environment day, there are calls for the COP27 event to ensure more commitment to implementation of the Paris Agreement.

Speaking in Stockholm, Sweden, during the opening of the Stockholm +50 event last Thursday, which he cohosted with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, President Uhuru Kenyatta called for urgent action to save the environment from further destruction.

“By the time we go to COP27 in November, we should aim to have developed a comprehensive, holistic and transformative package of environmental actions.

“This should be an integrated package that pulls together the outcomes of COP26 held last November, the 5th Session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA 5.2) in March, the Stockholm+50 and the upcoming UN Ocean Conference to be held in Lisbon at the end of June,” Mr Kenyatta said.

At the same time, the President called on development partners to honour their commitments of doubling global climate financing, especially for adaptation, to enable developing countries to invest in climate-resilient infrastructure and systems.