African leaders and climate experts unanimously denounce a decision that threatens global efforts to combat global warming and compromises financial support for vulnerable countries.
Donald Trump’s announcement of the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, upon his inauguration on Monday, has caused a wave of concern and disapproval, particularly in Africa where the consequences of climate change are already palpable.
For Senegalese Mouhamadou Sissoko, secretary general of Teranga Lab, “this decision compromises not only international cooperation, but also the financial commitments needed to support developing countries in their ecological transition and adaptation to climate impacts.”
“Africa is a key player in the multilateral climate space, and that is not about to change,” says Fred Njehu, a pan-African political strategist for Greenpeace Africa, who denounces “a huge threat to our future.”
Faten Aggad, executive director of the African Future Policies Hub, underlines the gravity of the situation. According to her, “the United States is responsible for 13.5% of global emissions, more than four times the contribution of Africa as a continent in its own right.”
“This announced withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement is a climate thunderbolt,” laments freelance journalist Pape Ibrahima Ndiaye, who recalls the recent commitment of the United States “to help the African continent in its quest for resilience” with a promise of $3 billion per year to support adaptation.
Sierra Leone’s Minister of Environment, Jiwoh Abdulai, insists that “climate change disasters do not conform to political ideologies.”
For Christopher Trisos, holder of the AXA Research Chair on Climate Risks in Africa, “the withdrawal of the Trump administration from the Paris Agreement does not change the fact that increasing the burning of coal, oil and gas only worsens climate change.”
The U.S. decision, which will take effect in a year under the pact, makes the United States the only nation among the 193 signatories to leave the landmark climate accord.
ARD/te/fss/as/APA