Climate change constitutes double-edged sword for Africa
- csrice8
- May 22, 2017
- 1 min read
On the eve of the 2017 Africa Regional Forum to be kicked off on May 18, a meeting on Sustainable Development advocated for a green transformation and an industrialisation that doesn’t harm the environment.
Speaking at the opening of the meeting, Fatima Denton, Director of Special Initiatives Division at the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) said that investing in effective management of environment assets is critical to reducing poverty and hunger and spur inclusive growth on the continent.
Denton explained that climate change constitutes a double-edged sword for the continent. “it could constitute Africa’s greatest potential to adapt to impacts and to usher in a new model of sustainable development, but, on other hand, it could also decimate African fragile economies, thus compromising its ability to realize several of SDGs”, argued Denton. Reducing Africa’s carbon emissions would not, she added, harm our economy.
Close to 200 million Africans lead insecure lives due to climate change as their livelihoods depend on climate sensitive economic sectors. The continent loses an estimated US$68 billion per year due to soil degradation, affecting 180 million people.
CIFOR
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