‘Africa is warming faster than the global average’: UN official

CAIRO - 5 March 2021: Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on Climate Action and Assistant Secretary-General for the Climate Action Team Selwin Hart stated Friday in Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development that “Africa is warning faster than the global average” which puts agriculture and food security in jeopardy. 

 

Those sectors already have a gender equality issue on the continent, which can be exacerbated by climate change. Hart pointed out that women “make up 60-80% of farmers. Yet, they represent 15-20% of land holders.” 

 

The international official stressed that the most vulnerable must be prioritized in terms of climate finance, “and, in this case, it is Africa.” 

 

UK COP26 Regional Ambassdor for Africa Sir Nicholas Kay stipulated that “adaptation, resilience and climate finance must be integrated into the [development] agenda.”

 

Kay underlined that a big portion of the $100 billion committed to climate finance in Paris “shall go to adaptation, and more of that adaptation money shall be distributed on a micro-level.” 

 

Chair of Youth Organization on Climate Change in Sudan and Member of the Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change Nisreen El Saim highlighted that conflict affects nature and not just climate change. 

 

The Sudanese climate activist said that some farms in Sudan got obliterated because of fighting. 

 

A UN report indicates that the number of people who need humanitarian aid rose from 5.5 percent to 7.9 percent in Sudan because of conflict and lack of access to natural resources, El Saim showcased. She added that “those have access to neither education nor jobs, whether green or not.” 

 

“Electricity is accessible on a limited scale in Sudanese rural areas, which makes using Zoom not an option in time of pandemic,” hindering the educational process, El Saim lamented. 

 

Chair of Youth Organization on Climate Change in Sudan regretted that her country does not get enough financial support in that realm.