ABIDJAN, Côte d’Ivoire, PAMACC News – A new report by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the African Union Commission on the state of climate in Africa has called for urgent measures to increase investment in climate adaptation and resilience to save Africa from the looming crisis. The report, ‘State of the Climate in Africa’ indicates that the continent is facing an escalating climate change bill, with an average loss of 2-5% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) due to climate extremes. In Africa, the cost of adaptation is estimated to be between USD 30-50 billion annually over the next decade, representing 2-3% of the region’s GDP. “This report serves as a stark reminder of the urgency of climate action in Africa, where extreme weather events are intensifying and disproportionately impacting the continent's social economic development.”, said the Minister of Green Economy and Environment of Zambia, Mike Elton Mposha. “Africa is uniquely vulnerable to climate change, with its high dependence on rain-fed agriculture and limited adaptive capacity. Rising temperatures, rising sea levels, and erratic rainfall are already causing widespread harm to human health, ecosystems, and livelihood. These challenges threaten to derail Africa's big-bed progress towards achieving the sustainable development goals and the African Union agenda 2063”, stated the Minister of Green Economy and Environment of Zambia. “It is essential to continue advocating for increased investments in climate adaptation and resilience, particularly through the laws and dynamic priorities,” he added. “The State of the Climate in Africa 2023 Report highlights the urgent need for action. Africa faces disproportionate burdens and risks from climate change, which threatens food security, public health, and socio-economic development across the continent,” said Ambassador Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko, Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy, and Sustainable Environment at the African Union Commission. Hanan Morsy, Deputy Executive Secretary and Chief Economist at the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) said, “Africa is on the front lines of fighting climate change and its impacts, from rising temperatures to shifting rainfall patterns, and other extreme weather events. Consequently, key sectors like the agricultural sector, which employs over 60% of Africa’s population, are under threat. Crops are failing and livestock is suffering as climate variability disrupts traditional farming practices, jeopardizes food supply, and the economic stability of nations, which are already grappling with high poverty and levels.” “At the same time, African countries face significant debt distress, forcing trade-offs with critical development needs such as health or education. We can only drive investments in climate action if we have financing, therefore, there is a need to achieve sustainable debt levels to make the essential investments” added Ms. Morsy. To this end, she explained, “There must be first, a timely and sustainable international debt resolution that calls for an overhaul of the G20 Common Framework to make it more effective, time-bound, and transparent, and second, a reform of the global financial architecture to ensure affordable financing at scale. Third, the implementation of innovative financing instruments…

PAMACC News – Around 733 million people faced hunger in 2023, equivalent to one in eleven people globally and one in five in Africa, according to the latest State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report published today by five United Nations specialized agencies. The annual report, launched this year in the context of the G20 Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty Task Force Ministerial Meeting in Brazil, warns that the world is falling significantly short of achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2, Zero Hunger, by 2030. The report shows that the world has been set back 15 years, with levels of undernourishment comparable to those in 2008-2009. Despite some progress in specific areas such as stunting and exclusive breastfeeding, an alarming number of people continue to face food insecurity and malnutrition as global hunger levels have plateaued for three consecutive years, with between 713 and 757 million people undernourished in 2023—approximately 152 million more than in 2019 when considering the mid-range (733 million). Regional trends vary significantly: the percentage of the population facing hunger continues to rise in Africa (20.4 percent), remains stable in Asia (8.1 percent)—though still representing a significant challenge as the region is home to more than half of those facing hunger worldwide —and shows progress in Latin America (6.2 percent). From 2022 to 2023, hunger increased in Western Asia, the Caribbean, and most African subregions. If current trends continue, about 582 million people will be chronically undernourished in 2030, half of them in Africa, warn the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the UN World Food Programme (WFP), and the World Health Organization (WHO). This projection closely resembles the levels seen in 2015 when the Sustainable Development Goals were adopted, marking a concerning stagnation in progress. Key findings beyond hunger The report highlights that access to adequate food remains elusive for billions. In 2023, around 2.33 billion people globally faced moderate or severe food insecurity, a number that has not changed significantly since the sharp upturn in 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Among those, over 864 million people experienced severe food insecurity, going without food for an entire day or more at times. This number has remained stubbornly high since 2020 and while Latin America shows improvement, broader challenges persist, especially in Africa where 58 percent of the population is moderately or severely food insecure. The lack of economic access to healthy diets also remains a critical issue, affecting over one-third of the global population. With new food price data and methodological improvements, the publication reveals that over 2.8 billion people were unable to afford a healthy diet in 2022. This disparity is most pronounced in low-income countries, where 71.5 percent of the population cannot afford a healthy diet, compared to 6.3 percent in high-income countries. Notably, the number dropped below pre-pandemic levels in Asia and in Northern America and Europe, while it increased substantially in…

PAMACC News - Hurricane Beryl’s trail of destruction in the Caribbean reinforces the need for the newly created loss and damage fund to be able to respond quickly to climate disasters. It also highlights the importance of more effective long-term support for small countries on the frontline of the climate crisis, so they don’t spiral further into unsustainable levels of debt. Like Africa, countries such as Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada have suffered tragic losses from the hurricane – the earliest Category 5 storm on record for the Atlantic. While it’s too early to put a value on the destruction, a disaster like this has the potential to wipe out a significant portion of an individual country’s annual economic output. At last year’s COP28 climate talks in Dubai world leaders celebrated the operational phase of the loss and damage fund, although the design is yet to be finalised. Beryl has given a visceral demonstration of why administrators must be nimble, providing easy access to support in the lead up to – and aftermath of – these kinds of disasters. In Beryl’s case, official warnings issued a week ago predicted its path through parts of the Caribbean. In reality though, there needs to be a significant investment in long-term measures to help frontline communities prepare for these disasters. International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) principal researcher, Ritu Bharadwaj, said: “Hurricane Beryl is a brutal example of what loss and damage looks like. “The immediate damage bill will be immense, but there will also be a significant long-term economic cost because of the time it will take to rebuild. And we’re just at the start of this year’s hurricane season. “Getting the design of the loss and damage fund right will be critical to anticipating and responding to these kinds of disasters in the future. “The international community needs to ensure that Hurricane Beryl and future storms don’t compound the debt burden facing many small island states.” IIED has advocated for several measures to ensure the loss and damage fund is nimble enough to respond to major climate disasters, including immediate help for affected communities along with support for longer-term resilience. In May, the leaders of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) endorsed a plan aimed at alleviating crippling levels of debt while also building economic protections. Part of the plan involves parametric insurance and pooling risk, so that individual countries are not overwhelmed each time a climate-related disaster strikes. IIED has developed a toolkit to help measure the readiness of a country's existing social protection programmes to deliver climate resilience.