As Africa faces increasingly severe climate impacts, experts have called for urgent and innovative solutions to tackle the challenges associated with it.
The experts who made the call at the opening of a two-day Climate Action Africa Forum (CAAF) 2024 forum held in Lagos recently, said Africa faces existential threats from climate change impacts.
They also called for investment in green technologies and support for smallholder farmers most impacted by climate change.
Ramatoulaye Diallo, chief executive officer of the Great Green Wall of Africa, in her keynote address, highlighted the severity of climate change in Africa.
She said that Africa is unfortunately at the heart of the problem and facing severe weather challenges such as rising temperature, erratic rainfall and desertification.
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She said decisive action is essential in the battle to protect Africa, noting that the journey requires collaboration, innovation and commitment from all stakeholders.
“I have great faith in the fight against climate change,” she said.
“These challenges always hamper livelihood and social economic development.” “That is why proactive, collective, and continental efforts are needed to address them.”
According to her, with what countries are facing, they must collaborate to get sustainable solutions for a worthy transformation and significant breakthrough.
Diallo said that stakeholders must utilise collective wisdom, share knowledge and goals as well as build capacity to tackle climate change issues.
‘’CAAF 2024 is already the platform where we can harness and address the needs of those most vulnerable to climate change.’’
Also, Rukia El Rufia, special advisor to the President on NEC and Climate Change, stressed the need for adaptation and mitigation strategies.
“Africa must not only adapt to the changing climate but also invest in green technologies and economic development to reduce its carbon footprint,” El Rufia said.
Markus Wauschkuhn, cluster coordinator of the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) in Nigeria, said that the German cooperation had supported Nigeria’s green economy.
Wauschkuhn said there was a need not to talk of climate only as a defensive action but as a business opportunity.
He noted that the innovation potential was particularly high, especially in Africa. He called for innovative green solutions to address climate change challenges and green technologies in producing goods in clusters.
“We also have a 44 skills programme for youth employment which is focusing on technical training for their development,” he said.
“We are also actively working towards developing a curriculum for green skills in Nigeria,” Wauschkuhn said.
According to him, the green economy is not only an academic concept, it is very much a trust-cutting tool that is affecting more and more areas of cooperation.
“We at GIZ support our partner countries in establishing economic structures based on the sustainable production of consumption patterns and combined prosperity climate, environmental protection and social justice.
He said that in Nigeria, for example, GIZ actively promoted energy transition through its Nigerian energy support programme.
Wauschkuhn added that the energy support programme was focused on fostering investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency across different areas for electricity for disadvantaged rural communities.
He added that GIZ has supported recycling jointly with the Lagos state government and has worked with over 3,000 plastic waste recycling actors across the value chains.
