President of Kenya said Wednesday that the African continent’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) could contract by as much as 30% by 2050 if urgent action is not taken for countries to adapt to climate change.
Speaking during an event organized by the Global Centre for Adaptation, Uhuru Kenyatta pointed out that “an investment of $800 million in climate adaptation programs in developing countries would give a return of $16 billion a year.”
Quoted by the Bloomberg financial news agency, the Kenyan head of state pointed out that although African countries contribute relatively little to climate change in terms of carbon emissions, they are among the most affected, in part because they rely heavily on rainfall to feed household agricultural production, which is the source of income for millions of Africans.
Rising temperatures and sea levels, as well as abnormal rainfall, have had a strong influence on the frequency and intensity of natural disasters; most disasters in Africa are flood-related, although drought has a greater impact, affecting five times as many people, said the Center’s executive director, Patrick Verkooijen.
Kenya has committed to invest about $8 billion, about 6.7 billion euros, over the next decade in climate adaptation projects, Kenyatta said, acknowledging that this represents only 10 percent of what it needs to spend under its Paris Agreement commitments, and needs international support to fund the rest.
Thousands of experts, activists and policy makers gather from Sunday in Glasgow at the 26th UN summit on climate change (COP26), with the main objective of halting global warming.
Climate change is, according to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, humanity’s biggest problem, and will dramatically affect the future if nothing substantial is done.
Greenhouse gas emissions, which countries tried to control in the 2015 Paris Agreement but continue to increase, are already affecting the climate and nature in many different ways, according to scientists.
