US climate chief calls on Africa to cut emissions

Africa, home to many of the most climate-vulnerable countries, must do its fair share of efforts to reduce global emissions and curb rising temperatures, said the US President’s special climate envoy, John Kerry, said at an African conference on the environment.

“It is true that 20 countries – including the United States – are now responsible for 80% of all emissions. It is also true that 48 countries in sub-Saharan Africa are only responsible for 0.55% of total emissions,” Kerry said in a speech to the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN).

“But we are all in the same boat. We are all threatened by emissions – and Mother Nature doesn’t care where those emissions come from. The challenge of the climate crisis comes from the emissions crisis in every country – the cars we drive, the way we cook our food, heat and cool our homes,” the presidential climate envoy said.

Many African countries say they would not limit investments in fossil fuels, which are essential to provide hundreds of millions of people with access to electricity. Developed countries, for their part, are calling on Africa to help reduce emissions, but no concrete plans have been offered to help developing countries, including those in Africa, with increased funding to combat climate change.

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At the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow last year, the world’s least developed countries said their concerns were not being heard by developed economies and called for support for poor countries.

The group of least developed countries at the UN climate change negotiations said the group of countries that “are most affected by the climate crisis despite contributing the least to it – are eager to see real progress that will see emissions halved by 2030 and climate finance increased.” to support climate action in developing countries.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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