The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has called on the international community to evolve measures to prepare the African continent for the ravages of climate change.

Ms Ahunna Eziakonwa, Director of UNDP’s Africa Bureau, who made the call at the 24th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP24) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Katowice, Poland, said preparing Africa for the reality of climate change “cannot be an afterthought.”

Eziakonwa said: “Taking reactive approaches to food security and disaster recovery costs the people of Africa billions of dollars in lost GDP, and syphons off government resources that should be dedicated to education, social programmes, healthcare, business development and employment”.

According to a new report launched by the UNDP, Africa is at a “tipping point” as global warming increases, and urgent action needs to be taken across the continent now to mitigate risks and safeguard a decade of social and economic gains.

For two weeks, the COP24 has brought together thousands of climate action decision-makers, advocates and activists, with one key objective: adopting global guidelines for the 197 parties of the 2015 Paris Agreement.

At the Paris Agreement, countries committed to limiting global warming to less than 2 degrees centigrade – and as close as possible to 1.5 degrees centigrade – above pre-industrial levels.

Ahunna noted that despite major structural inequalities, nations across the continent have achieved “impressive economic, political and social growth in recent decades.”

She, however, argued that “climate change, droughts, floods, changing rainfall patterns and conflict have the potential to unravel efforts to reduce hunger and achieve the goals outlined in the Paris Agreement, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”

The UNDP study shows that, should the world fail to limit global warming to less than 2 degrees centigrade, families will find it hard to feed themselves, and the risk of famine and increased poverty will rise along with temperatures.

Higher levels of poverty would further limit the capacity of communities to manage climate-related risks, according to the report.

The report warned that failure to mitigate climate-related risks could translate into more risky migration patterns, serious epidemics such as the 2014 Ebola outbreak across West Africa, and greater political instability.

Drawing on years of data from projects geared to enabling communities to adapt to a changing climate and build resilience, the report shows that as emissions continue going up, support for climate adaptation initiatives must be increased urgently and accelerated across the continent, especially across the 34 African least developed countries.

However, measures to enable communities to adapt to the changing climate is a costly matter that would require creative financial mechanisms and substantial engagement with the private sector to meet.

It would also require developed nations to make good on their 2015 Paris Agreement commitments to dedicate $100 billion annually to supporting climate action in developing nations.

The report analyses several noteworthy successes in climate change adaptation in Africa over the past decade, including projects aimed at improving food security in Benin, Mali, Niger and Sudan.

It also analysed supporting governments in having improved climate information and early warning systems to save lives from fast-acting storms; and empowering women to be effective climate action champions.

By Prudence Arobani

“Once again, we passed the exam, we organised an absolutely top-class world party at the highest level,” President Andrzej Duda of Poland said on Friday, December 14, 2018 in the sidelines of the 24th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP24) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Katowice.

Poland had previously hosted the COP in Poznan (2008, COP14) and Warsaw (2013, COP19).

The president had once again visited the Katowice summit where he met, among others, with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Hoesung Lee and COP24 president Michał Kurtyka.

“I have great satisfaction because everyone praises the organisation of the climate summit. All the people I spoke with emphasise that it is perfectly organised, that everything is going very well,” said the president after the meetings. “We, Poles, are responsible for this organisation, because we are the host of the summit, the summit is in Katowice.”

He added: “I am glad that once again we passed the exam. We’ve organised an absolutely top global event at the highest level. Everything is done as planned, everything goes very smoothly, the participants are happy, and everyone underlines it very strongly.

“I am glad that from the organisational side, for which – I stress – we bear responsibility, everything went well. I am counting on the fact that it will be complemented by a compromise, concluded – I hope – even today.”

While declaring his support in seeking a compromise at the summit, he went further: “Everyone is focused on this at the moment. I am also trying to support these aspirations, and it was precisely on this subject that I spoke with both secretary general Antonio Guterres and the president of the conference Kurtyka.”

It was initially thought that the summit, which attracted about 21,500 participants from around world, would be extended until Saturday, but COP organisers were optimistic that that might not be necessary as a “road map” of the implementation of the Paris Agreement could emerge late on Friday.

Africa must unlock the power of its women and girls if it is to adapt to climate change, cope with disasters and build its green energy sector.

That is the message from African delegates as the world deliberates on the implementation the Paris Agreement on climate change in Katowice, Poland.

Research shows that when women are involved in decision making, agreements on the environment are more likely to be ratified and projects around natural resources, such as water, are more likely to succeed.

If given access to education and finance, African women can contribute to finding technological solutions and driving the continent’s renewable energy industry too, according to experts.

“When you empower women in the context of climate change you empower a family, a community and a country,” says Dana Elhassan, senior gender expert at the African Development Bank (AfDB), which allocates international funds to development projects.

“You cannot solve a problem with half the team. A lot of the unpaid work that women do, such as collecting firewood and water, and caring for the family, are massively affected by climate change – so we have to make sure adaptation initiatives address their needs, vulnerabilities and potential.”

Women as agents of change

Studies show that when women are part of decision making, ratification of multilateral agreements on the environment are more likely, adds Mafalda Duarte, head of the $8.3 billion Climate Investment Fund, one of the largest climate financing instruments in the world.

There is also strong evidence that women play a vital role in dealing with disasters by mobilising communities – something that will become increasingly important as climate change advances, she says.

“Discourse is quite tilted to considering women as victims of climate change – but we are agents of change and if we are perceived as such this will make a big difference,” says Ms Duarte.

“Our empowerment represents greatly under-utilised opportunities to build our economies and tackle climate change.”

When women are empowered – given access to finance, assets and decision making – there are big impacts across sectors, she adds.

“Renewable energy is traditionally seen as a male sector but if you are deliberate in giving access to women, they become entrepreneurs and help us push forward that agenda,” says Ms Duarte.

Women can drive business and technology solutions

When women are empowered equally to men there is a massive leap forward in economic gains: a recent McKinsey study found that if women were participating economically as much as men, they would be adding 28 trillion dollars to global GDP by 2025.

In Africa, lack of access to finance has resulted in an estimated $42 billion financing gap for women entrepreneurs across business value chains.

Yet unlocking African women’s ingenuity and giving them access to finance could generate technological advancements that help deal with climate change, believes the African Development Bank.

As mobile phone technology has proven, Africa is capable of leapfrogging into an era of digitisation, which minimises risks and cuts costs of doing business.

African women have shown potential to compete in this digital work-space – Mfarm, AppsTech, JuaKali, Nandimobile, Hehe Ltd, Obami, DotNxt, are only a few of the women-led tech startups in Africa listed by Forbes.

“If we women are given the right platforms, we will achieve the change we wish to see in the world,” says Ms Duarte.

Unlocking investment in African women holds incredible return and transformational impact potential. Women form the backbone of African economies, accounting for a majority of small- and medium-sized businesses and dominating the agriculture sector as primary producers and food processors.

COP24 is the 24th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This year countries are preparing to implement the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit the world’s global warming to no more than 2C.