Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Sifelani Tsiko
23 October 2006
Harare — AFRICA will next month host the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change at a time environmentalists are warning that the social effects of climate change will be severe in Africa.
The convention will be held in Nairobi, Kenya, from November 6 to 17.
At the meeting, countries will seek to find ways to implement measures to reduce the impact of climate change while at the same time endeavour to find possible adaptation techniques.
Africa, being is one of the poorest continents in monetary terms, is least equipped to adapt to the potential effects of climate change although environmentalists say it has "played an insignificant role in causing it".
Most of the major oil companies and some governments like the United States are said to be reluctant to acknowledge the devastating role industries in rich countries, transport and food industries have played in the emission of greenhouse gasses on a massive scale.
Environmentalists say as the atmosphere warms due to increased greenhouse gas emissions, climate is also responding in deleterious ways.
"We are already seeing changes in patterns of temperature and rainfall across Africa, as many of you who lament the loss of the reliable and regular rainy season well know," says one analyst.
They say there are many controversies surrounding the proposed measures put forward in the Kyoto Protocol and African countries must push for solutions that address their problems and interests of the poor and not just the interests of big business.
Dr Jon Lovett of the University of York, in a study of climate in Africa, warned that dramatic changes might soon occur in the continent's vegetation as a result of global warming.
The study, conducted by Dr Lovett and others, assessed the likely impact of future climate fluctuations on the continent by modelling the responses of more than 5 000 plant species to predicted climate changes.
"The results were extraordinary: plants migrate out of the Congo rainforests and there is a massive intensification of drought in the Sahel. Other areas particularly hard hit are eastern Africa and the south-west coast," said Dr Lovett.
He suggests that climate change will also have a large-scale social impact on people in Africa in the future.
"The social effects of climate change are tightly linked to politics and so difficult to predict, but the way things are going it looks like Africa is going to be in for a rough ride over the next few decades," he said.
Despite the fact that most of the greenhouse gas emissions occur in developed countries, it is still vital for African countries to take interest in climate change issues since people on the continent are likely to feel the severe effects of climate change in future.
Desertification, biomass burning, pollution of water systems, deforestation and numerous other forms of pollution are threatening Africa's environment.
The implications of changes in the climate, use of sustainable energy sources, capacity building, drought and floods and sustainable development all need to be clearly articulated in the interest of the poor in Africa.
Biotechnology firms are said to be peddling their agenda to push the UNFCC to endorse the use of genetically modified organisms in a number of areas that include the development of biofuels, GM trees and drought-tolerant GM crops.
The biotechnology firms and non-governmental organisations are also said to be looking at turning the Nairobi UNFCC COP-12 into an opportunity to promote GM technology as "the next big solution to climate change".
Critics charge that GM multinationals such as Monsanto and Syngenta, are pushing African countries to grow crops for the production of biofuels to be exported to Europe and in many ways with no intentions to have Africa benefit from use of such environmentally friendly fuels.
The recent dumping case in which a Holland-based firm offloaded 600 tonnes of toxic waste in Cote d'Ivoire killing 10 people and poisoning more than 10 000 others, shows the damaging scale of the trade which is turning Africa into the dustbin of the world's hazardous waste.
The dumping of highly toxic waste by industrialised countries in Africa and other poor developing countries has been going on for years clandestinely and, in some cases, in subtle forms with rich nations tying financial aid to their demands for offloading poisonous waste.
There are worrying reports in several African countries that Western multinationals are dumping highly toxic waste from "junked equipment" (known more commonly as e-waste) which poses a serious threat to human health, biosafety and biodiversity in the environment.
Used computers, televisions and other electronic gadgets are being dumped in Africa daily in a continent that still lacks the capacity to handle this kind of waste.
The sorry sight of enormous piles of junked electronics in environmentally sensitive wetlands, dams and other water sources, forests and open lands, along roadsides and uncontrolled burning in uncontained landfills that are routinely set ablaze to reduce bulk, tend to pollute the air. This pollutes the air heavily; posing a threat to the climate in this region that is prone to droughts, floods and other natural disasters.
African countries must unite and take a common position against this "toxic terrorism" which is causing heavy pollution and threatening the livelihoods of the people on the continent.
If nothing is done to raise alarm bells about this practice, Africa's environment will continue to be polluted through the dumping of hazardous waste and radioactive substances that remain toxic for many years, posing threats to public health and the atmosphere.
More resources also need to be channelled to build Africa's capacity to monitor the emission of ozone-depleting substances, dumping of waste and other hazardous substances as well as providing alternative sources of sustainable energy sources and other activities that are environmentally friendly.
Global warming is a real threat, and is already affecting some developing countries as rising sea levels wreak havoc on small island nations and more frequent and more severe droughts while in others flooding is becoming more devastating.
And, as Africa hosts this climate change convention, it is important to increase support to African countries to enable them to better manage and adapt to the climatic changes that are taking place.
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