Windhoek
An international organisation pushing for global action on climate change says African leaders need to urgently prioritise addressing climate change if they are to avoid adverse weather conditions that bring drought and floods.
“Keep at least 80 percent of fossil fuels in the ground, and finance a just transition to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050. Anything less will put too many of the communities that did the least to cause the climate crisis at risk of floods, super storms or other climate disasters,” said the 350Africa.org, a non-government organisation devoted to raise awareness and push for global action on climate change.
World leaders are heading to Paris, France, for discussions on climate change.
Adverse changes in weather patterns have seen Namibia battling with severe drought that has left 500 000 Namibians in need of drought relief. The Agricultural and Food Organisation of the UN (FAO) earlier this year reported that 42.3 percent of all Namibians are under-nourished. The Namibia Early warning and Food Information Unit warned in July about the massive reductions in the annual crop harvest of 46 percent below average and 49 percent lower than last year’s harvest.
“For us here in Africa and the Arab world, this is all too clear. In the last month alone, an insane heat wave caused 93 reported deaths in Egypt and pushed temperatures way past 50 degrees in much of the Middle East, floods ripped through Bauchi State in Nigeria, destroying houses and crops, while 500 000 people in Namibia are being hit by drought and need food aid. Parts of South Africa are also facing drought conditions, and people in Uganda are facing disappearing livelihoods as their lakes start to diminish,” said 350Africa.
“We are seeing extreme weather events like these more and more often. We cannot let them become the new normal. We are at a global economic tipping point, for two years running, the world has built more renewable energy than fossil fuels. Unfortunately we are also at climate tipping points, July 2015 was the hottest month ever recorded on planet earth,” said the organisation.