African nations are losing up to 5% of their economic output to offset the effects of our overheating planet.
The continent is severely lacking in international climate funding, which impacts nations' resilience to extreme weather events and makes crucial adaptations unaffordable.
What's happening?
As Reuters reported, the 54 African nations have disproportionately suffered from the impacts of our changing climate.
These nations contribute far less to air pollution than more industrialized countries on other continents. However, they receive only 1% of global climate finance, per the report.
African nations have attracted new climate mitigation investors in recent years. Yet African government officials say they still aren't getting an adequate share of the $100 billion in global financing available — let alone the $1.3 trillion needed to address the issue, according to officials cited by Reuters.
Only $2.6 billion of over $400 billion spent globally on clean energy went to Africa last year, according to Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, as shared by the news service.
"The climate crisis is an economic sinkhole, sucking the momentum out of economic growth," Stiell said in the Reuters report.Â
He also said: "Africa's vast potential to drive forward climate solutions is being thwarted by an epidemic of underinvestment."
Why is Africa's climate spending important?
The news about Africa's climate spending emphasizes the need for additional investments to help the continent adapt to our planet's overheating.
Africa is being hit hard by climate shifts because of extreme droughts and flooding. These weather events are impacting agricultural food production, driving up the price of commodities, and worsening the continent's already devastating hunger problems.
Recent droughts have devastated crops in southern Africa and increased death rates in Somalia. Meanwhile, geothermal resources discovered under Africa's Great Rift Valley are helping Kenya produce more clean power and support the region's transition to renewable energy.
What's being done to support Africa's climate financing?
Government officials and climate negotiators are meeting at the Conference of the Parties to discuss climate financing strategies. This November, representatives from African nations will gather at the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Their goals include finding innovative financing solutions to help African nations adapt to the climate without significantly worsening their debt burdens. Carbon markets and debt refinancing may assist the nations with these goals, according to Reuters sources.
Regardless of where you live, you can do your part to support global climate resilience by voting for pro-climate candidates in elections and educating yourself about the issues.
You can also donate to organizations like World Vision that help communities overcome poverty following climate-fueled natural disasters, along with supporting other sustainable development projects in vulnerable regions of the world.
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