By Daniel Itai.
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. (News of The South) South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa is now the African Union (AU)’s official chairperson of the climate change committee.
Whilst addressing delegates at the ongoing 33rd AU summit, the South African President bemoaned the expectation that African countries must carry the burden of climate change alone.
“Already African countries are spending between 2 to 9 percent of their GDP in addressing extreme climate events that are already happening at an unprecedented and accelerated pace. It is both unfair and unsustainable to expect Africa to shoulder this burden alone.
To limit global warming, build resilience to our economies and ensure the safety of our citizens, everybody must see it as their responsibility to contribute.
African countries are finding it extremely difficult to find support for large-scale transformative climate change efforts because support is no longer in the form of grants but rather comes in the forms of loans,” said Ramaphosa.
Ramaphosa further added that while disinvestment from fossil fuels is required to mitigate climate change, it should be done gradually to avoid further loss of jobs in Africa.
Comments
About Author
