Saturday, 21 December 2024
Home Topics Climate African nations are losing up to 5% of their GDP per year with climate change: report
ClimateEconomyNewsPoliticsWeather

African nations are losing up to 5% of their GDP per year with climate change: report

50

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — African nations are losing up to 5% of their GDP every year as they bear a heavier burden than the rest of the world from climate change, a new report said Monday after one of the continent’s hottest years on record.

The World Meteorological Organization said many African nations are spending up to 9% of their budgets for climate adaptation policies.

“Over the past 60 years, Africa has observed a warming trend that has become more rapid than the global average,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo, warning that it is affecting everything from food security to public health to peace.

Africa is responsible for less than 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. But it is the most vulnerable region to extreme weather events including droughts, floods and heatwaves, the WMO said.

The new report focuses on 2023, one of Africa’s three hottest years on record. It urged African governments to invest in early warning systems as well as meteorological services. If adequate measures are not put in place, up to 118 million Africans will be exposed to droughts, floods and extreme heat by 2030, the report warned.

In sub-Saharan Africa, the costs of adapting to extreme weather could be $30-50 billion per year over the next decade, the report estimated.

The effects of climate change have been harrowing. Between September and October 2023, approximately 300,000 people across West Africa were affected by floods, the report said. Zambia experienced the worst drought in 40 years, affecting nearly 6 million people.

The pattern of extreme weather events in Africa continues in 2024, experts said.

In the Sahel region south of the Sahara, flooding has affected over 716,000 people this year, according to the United Nations. In Mali, authorities last week declared a national disaster over floods which have affected 47,000 people since the beginning of the rainy season.

West Africa experienced an unprecedented heat wave earlier this year that led to a surge in deaths.

Monika Pronczuk, The Associated Press

Related Articles

FILE PHOTO: A man wearing an IG Metall (Industrial Union of Metalworkers) scarf holds a banner with the Volkswagen logo, as workers gather to strike against planned cuts to wages and possible factory closures, in Hanover, Germany, December 2, 2024. Picture taken with long exposure. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer/File Photo
AutomotiveBusinessEconomyElectric Vehicles (EVs)IndustryLabourManufacturing

VW, union agree to cut 35,000 jobs in Germany, avert strikes

Volkswagen strikes deal with unions, avoiding mass strikes; plans 35,000 job cuts,...

The Sierra Nevada del Cocuy is located in the eastern ranges of the Colombian Andes (AFP)
ClimateEconomyEmissionsEnvironmentIndigenousMiningNatural GasOilPoliticsRegulations

Inter-American Court rules Colombia drilling violated native rights

The Inter-American Court ruled Colombia violated U'wa Indigenous rights by allowing resource...

BusinessClimateEconomyEmissionsEnvironmentNatural GasPoliticsRegulations

California regulators vote to delay closure of gas storage facility, site of worst US methane leak

California regulators delay Aliso Canyon gas facility closure, sparking debate over energy...

FILE - EPA Administrator Michael Regan stands near the Marathon Petroleum Refinery as he conducts a television interview, while touring neighborhoods that abut the refinery, in Reserve, La., Nov. 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
ClimateEconomyEmissionsEnvironmentPolitics

EPA head Regan, who championed environmental justice, to leave office Dec. 31

Michael Regan, who has led the EPA throughout Biden's four-year term, said...

Login into your Account

Please login to like, dislike or bookmark this article.