President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Sunday that despite not being responsible for climate change, the phenomenon is costing African economies between three to five percent of their growth domestic product annually.
The president was speaking virtually from Pretoria in his capacity as the outgoing coordinator of the African Union’s committee of African heads of state and government on climate change (CAHOSCC).
The committee has been meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on the sidelines of the AU leaders’ summit which kicked off in the Ethiopian capital on Friday.
As Ramaphosa spoke to the leaders, Cyclone Ana has left dozens dead in Madagascar, Mozambique and Malawi following its landfall last week.
While they Southern Africans were trying to pick up the pieces reports were underway that a second cyclone was on its way targeting the recovering countries.
Ramaphosa said the Covid-19 pandemic had set back multilateral processes, including climate change, and “Africa is experiencing the worst impacts of phenomena associated with global warming such as droughts, floods and cyclones.”
“It is Africans who are bearing both the brunt and the cost,” he said.
Reminding the leaders that in November this year Egypt is going to host COP27, he added: “To achieve the expected results for Africa at COP27, it is imperative that we develop a strong and well-coordinated common African position that we formulate a set of robust key messages that encapsulate Africa’s aspirations.”
He said a number of key outcomes had been achieved since COP26 in Glasgow (UK) last year included the conclusion of the Paris agreement work programme which would provide a basis for parties to implement the agreement fully.
“The complex Glasgow climate pact strives to strike the right balance by accommodating the differing national circumstances and capacities among the nearly 200 parties,” he said.
“The aim is that all are enabled and empowered to contribute their fair share as well as to enhance their climate ambition,” the president said.
But “a one-size-fits-all approach to complex issues such as a transition from fossil fuels that disregards the realities on the ground in Africa will simply not work — and is neither just nor equitable,” the South African leader said.
He told leaders that South Africa’s term as coordinator of CAHOSCC had come to an end and that he would hand over the baton to Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta on Sunday.
NM/as/APA