In Africa, 17 of the 20 countries most at risk from climate change are located, and climate change already impacts 2 to 9 percent of their national budgets.
According to a statement issued Thursday by the UNECA, African countries must redirect a growing portion of their public finances toward mitigation efforts and population protection in response to climate change challenges.
According to the report, the situation deprived countries of resources needed to finance development, safeguard development gains, and implement the Sustainable Development Goals.
African countries should develop innovative growth models capable of preserving and enhancing their populations’ well-being while adapting to climate change and contributing to its slowdown as a consequence of climate change, according to the UNECA.
The UNECA Offices for North and West Africa convened an expert group meeting held under the theme “Transition to Renewable Resources for Energy and Food Security in North and West Africa ” on Wednesday met in the Ghanaian capital of Accra.
“Food insecurity is unfortunately a structural challenge in Africa, affecting 20 percent of the continent’s population compared to the global rate of 9.8 percent,” a UNECA statement quoted Ngone Diop, director of the UNECA office for West Africa, as saying during the meeting.
Diop emphasized increasing agricultural and cereal productivity, mobilizing more domestic resources, and expediting the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement, which serves as the continent’s cornerstone for poverty reduction and the acceleration of structural transformation.
Experts, researchers, development practitioners, and representatives from 22 North and West African countries attended the meeting and discussed critical issues.
The issues include the impact of climate change and its implications for economic and social development strategies, as well as energy security and climate change challenges, with particular emphasis on the pivotal role of renewable energy in meeting the needs of the population.
