WORLD CLIMATE DAY – DECEMBER 8, 2024

The international community has set global goals including limiting the increase in global temperature to 1.5°C, halting and reversing biodiversity loss, achieving land degradation neutrality, eradicating poverty, ensuring human well-being and guaranteeing a prosperous and sustainable future. Six years before the deadline (2030) for these global ambitions to be met, national commitments and field-actions fall consistently short of what has been planned before reaching a point of no return. 

Although responsible for less than 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions, Africa is one of the most vulnerable regions on the planet to climate change. The sixth report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) explains the deep and various impacts of climate change in Africa, affecting the natural environments, human populations and economies of the continent, and exacerbating worrying vulnerability levels. Increased rainfall variability disrupts the availability of water for agriculture, domestic consumption and natural resources. Extreme events such as floods and droughts are becoming more frequent and lead to devastating damage and losses for local populations.  

Some regions, such as North Africa, have recorded unprecedented temperatures, with peaks reaching 50.4 °C in Agadir, Morocco, in 2023 (AfDB, 2024). 2023 recorded fires in North Africa that affected 89,074 ha of area, including 73,725 ha in Algeria. 

More than 6.9 million people in West and Central Africa were hit by floods in 2024, causing massive displacement, agricultural losses and the destruction of houses. Chad is among the most affected countries, with 1.9 million people affected. Niger registered nearly 400 deaths, more than 150,000 houses collapsed and 26,000 livestock lost (CILSS, 2024). 

Although Climate Finance is a pre-requisite to support Africa’s efforts to combat climate change and move to resilient economies, the continent faces a major shortage of financial resources to finance climate actions, according to the 2024 report by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). The financial resource gap for climate adaptation in Africa is estimated at between $187 billion and $359 billion per year by 2030. Although international financial flows have increased from $22 billion in 2021 to $28 billion in 2022, these resources remain insufficient. A large part of climate finance comes from public sources, with limited contribution from the private sector. There are also challenges related to accessibility due to the complexity of the mechanisms and the lack of institutional capacities. World Climate Day 2024 coincides with the new common climate finance goal, adopted at the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held in Baku, Azerbaijan. The goal was set at $300 billion per year by 2035. However, this amount does not match up with the $1.3 trillion requested by African and other vulnerable countries. In addition, speeding-up the operationalization of the Loss and Damage Fund, the first funding of which could be accessed during 2025, is one of the recommendations formulated at this Conference. The 30th UNFCCC Conference, due in 2025 in Belém, Brazil, will be held 10 years after the adoption of the Paris Agreement and therefore represents a crucial opportunity to address climate challenges. This event is expected to be a turning point in shaping global climate policies and protecting vital critical ecosystems, while addressing the needs of local and indigenous populations. 

Faced with these challenges, the Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS) has engaged since 2013 in the mobilization of Climate Finance for the benefit of the most vulnerable African populations and local communities, through its accreditation to international financial mechanisms (Adaptation Fund and Green Climate Fund). Strengthening early warning and food security systems are at the heart of the OSS's areas of intervention. The RICOWAS project (Scaling up climate-resilient rice farming in West Africa) is a living proof of such commitment. This project operates in thirteen West African countries, namely: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo, which benefit from support and assistance, particularly through the adoption of the Intensified Rice System (SRI) and Climate Resilient Rice Production (CRRP). Adapt-WAP (Integration of climate change adaptation measures in the coordinated management of the W-Arly-Pendjari transboundary complex - WAP), is a second example, which has set up a Multi-Risk Early Warning System (MR-EWS) in the three beneficiary countries (Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger). This community EWS makes it possible to anticipate the risks of flooding, wildfires and droughts, and provides local populations with a strategic tool to prepare and react more effectively. 

Fighting climate change is a collective responsibility and the OSS reiterates its commitment to collaborate with local, regional and international actors to build a future where resilience and sustainability rhyme with human progress. 

On this World Climate Day, let us take concrete measures to protect the most fragile ecosystems and preserve the livelihoods of the most exposed African populations.