The 27th UN Conference of the Parties on Climate Change (COP27) will be held in Sharm-el-Sheik, on the shores of the Red Sea, in Egypt from 6 to 18 November 2022. Less than two months before this meeting, the ministers of finance, environment and economy of the African continent met in Cairo to make the final adjustments. Egypt wants to be the voice of Africa.
As we are only a few weeks away from COP27, conferences, debates and reports are multiplying in preparation for this major meeting and to bring the voice of Africa before the international community. Thus, Egypt, the organizing country, is the standard-bearer of Africa, the least polluting continent, but which suffers the full force of the consequences of global warming. “Egypt should play this role to represent the African continent and its needs in a clear and explicit way: we are not the source of these emissions, but we – our people and our natural resources – are affected. At this point, a position must be taken at the level of the international community to say that everyone must fulfill their obligations, as provided for in the Paris Agreement,” said Yasmine Fouad, Egyptian Minister of Environment.
Climate injustice
Africa represents 17% of the world’s population and accounts for only 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions. On the other hand, it is the continent that pays the heavy price of climate change. According to the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) African Economic Outlook (AEO) 2022 report, entitled “Supporting Climate Resilience and a Fair Energy Transition in Africa,” there were 131 extreme weather events (storms, droughts, floods…) that hit the continent in two years. This report focuses on the growing threat that climate change poses to lives and livelihoods in Africa. In addition, each year the continent loses between 5 and 15% of its gross domestic product due to climate change. A terrible injustice that Africans would like to correct.
Reduce annual CO2 emissions
In addition, one of the issues that COP27 should address is keeping global warming below 1.5°C compared to the pre-industrial era. And to get there, the world must reduce annual CO2 emissions by 48% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050. “Our chances of limiting the temperature rise to 1.5 and even 2 degrees are diminishing day by day, we lack political will … It is now or never,” warned Hoesung Lee, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in the organization’s latest report released last April.
Therefore, Africa intends to commit to the climate at COP27, without compromising the development of the continent. The slogan of the Egyptian presidency of the COP27 “Uniting the world to fight climate change” is part of this perspective.
