{"id":161990,"date":"2021-11-05T17:42:58","date_gmt":"2021-11-05T17:42:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/africa\/covids-aftershocks-when-will-leaders-lead-on-climate-and-covid\/"},"modified":"2024-01-23T11:32:01","modified_gmt":"2024-01-23T11:32:01","slug":"covid-climate-conflict","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/africa\/stories\/covid-climate-conflict\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID’s Aftershocks: When will leaders lead on climate and COVID?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Top news<\/h2>\n

12 years of waiting:<\/strong>\u00a0Rich countries failed to mobilise the\u00a0$100 billion in climate finance<\/a>\u00a0that they promised to developing nations (ahem) 12 years ago. Meanwhile, 34 of the world\u2019s poorest countries\u00a0spend five times more on debt payments<\/a>\u00a0than they do on curbing the effects of climate change ($29.4 billion to $5.4 billion). Jubilee Debt Campaign, which produced the analysis, was at COP to sound the alarm on the issue \u2014 but Glasgow police considered their inflatable\u00a0Loch Ness debt monster<\/a>\u00a0more of a threat than the debt crisis.<\/p>\n

COP on:\u00a0<\/strong>As leaders gathered in Glasgow to discuss how to\u00a0keep the world on track for a 1.5 degree scenario<\/a>, African activists have called out the injustice of efforts to curb investments in fossil fuels in Africa. Africa accounts for 2-3% of global emissions and is beset by energy poverty, while rich countries continue to\u00a0invest in gas and coal<\/a>. AU President Felix Tshisekedi said the continent\u00a0has a plan for responding to the climate crisis<\/a>, but is tired of waiting for the support needed to make it happen. Climate change could wipe out 15% of Africa\u2019s gross domestic product by 2030 and push an additional 100 million people into extreme poverty by the end of the decade. Additionally, 2 million deaths a year, mostly in poorer countries, can be traced back to\u00a0rich countries\u2019 pollution<\/a>. Read more on how climate change is impacting in Africa from\u00a0ONE\u2019s Rasna Warah<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hang on:\u00a0<\/strong>In a positive turn, the US, UK, and EU\u00a0agreed to invest $8.5 billion<\/a>\u00a0to help South Africa transition from coal. Investing in the energy transition could help resolve Africa\u2019s jobs crisis, according to the\u00a0UN Economic Commission for Africa<\/a>. Former Bank of England Governor Mark Carney hailed a \u201cwatershed moment\u201d as private investors committed\u00a0$130 trillion (yes trillion) to hit net zero<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We have a plan:\u00a0<\/strong>Leading African voices have called for\u00a0collective action to support a financial and trade package<\/a>\u00a0to transform climate inequality into inclusiveness. Scaling up public and private finance, reducing Africa\u2019s cost of commercial borrowing, increasing support for adaptation, and aligning trade policy with climate objectives will position Africa to both respond to the crisis and be a future climate leader.<\/p>\n

Trial run, fail:\u00a0<\/strong>COVID-19 was a trial run for a crisis and taught us a lot about prospects for climate diplomacy \u2014\u00a0so says Stefan Lehne from Carnegie Europe<\/a>. Rather than growing to meet the challenge of the pandemic, foreign policy shrank. ONE\u2019s David McNair made a similar link back in July, noting that trust shattered by the pandemic response will\u00a0make climate cooperation all the more difficult<\/a>. Climate change will also make future pandemics more likely. Award winning Australian virologist Eddie Holmes highlighted how changing migration patterns of animals will make it\u00a0easier for viruses to spread<\/a>. The Lancet medical journal dubbed climate is\u00a0\u201ccode red\u201d for a healthy future<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The real obscenity:<\/strong>\u00a0The climate crisis has brought\u00a01 million people to the brink of famine in Madagascar<\/a>. Some are describing it as the first climate famine. But\u00a0climate, COVID, and conflict\u00a0have been triggering food insecurity, poverty, and displacement elsewhere,\u00a0<\/strong>particularly in the\u00a0Horn of Africa<\/a>.<\/p>\n

No time to Draghi:\u00a0<\/strong>Last weekend, Mario Draghi hosted G20 Leaders in Rome for their first in-person meeting since the pandemic hit. They signed off on a global\u00a0tax deal<\/a>, which ONE Board member Larry Summers described as a\u00a0victory for \u201cDetroit over Davos<\/a>.\u201d The G20 also made progress on recycling the $650 billion IMF Special Drawing Rights that were allocated in August from rich to poorer countries. G20 leaders pledged to share $100 billion, and Canada, Italy, and Spain joined France and the UK is recycling 20% of their share. But while some said the summit was a sign that\u00a0multilateralism is back<\/a>, we at ONE were less impressed: leaders\u00a0did not take enough concrete action to meet the target<\/a>\u00a0to vaccinate 70% of the world\u2019s population by September 2022.<\/p>\n

Flood warning:<\/strong>\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0over 10 times more expensive<\/a>\u00a0to administer a COVID-19 vaccine in South Sudan compared to neighboring countries. Limited infrastructure and increasingly erratic rainy seasons make transport hard. Much of the country is inaccessible by road, and bad weather and flooded landing strips are hampering air transport. Just\u00a00.4% of the population<\/a>\u00a0is fully vaccinated.<\/p>\n

Threat multiplier:<\/strong>\u00a0The Ethiopian government\u00a0declared a state of emergency<\/a>\u00a0on Tuesday after the Tigray People\u2019s Liberation Front (TPLF) captured the towns of Dessie and Kombolcha \u2014 250 miles from the capital Addis Ababa. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed urged citizens to take up arms to defend themselves, marking the latest chapter in the dangerous destabilisation of Africa\u2019s second most populous country. Of the 224 total health centers in the Tigray region in Ethiopia,\u00a0only 40 are functional<\/a>. Meanwhile, protests continue in Sudan a\u00a0week after a military coup<\/a>. Climate change is a\u00a0\u201cthreat multiplier\u201d to armed conflict<\/a>, particularly in Africa.<\/p>\n

Moving the needles:<\/strong>\u00a0UNICEF estimates\u00a0a 2.2 billion shortage<\/a>\u00a0of auto-disable syringes by next year, which are disproportionately used in low- and middle-income countries. Vaccine donations, while well below the threshold needed to reach 70% vaccinations, are starting to surpass syringe availability in Africa. This has immediate consequences for COVID-19 vaccination efforts, but also threatens countries\u2019 abilities to administer childhood immunizations. Meanwhile,\u00a0the first oral COVID-19 vaccine tablet<\/a>\u00a0(read: no syringe necessary) is being trialed in South Africa. If effective, this could sidestep delivery hurdles like ultra-cold chain requirements. Also important given Africa has a\u00a0chronic shortage of needles<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Devastating milestone<\/strong>:\u00a0The official COVID-19 death toll<\/a>\u00a0surpassed 5 million this week. But the\u00a0true death toll<\/a>\u00a0could be as high as 19.6 million. In the past three months, rich countries mobilized\u00a0more booster shots<\/a>\u00a0than poor countries have administered all year. This\u00a0\u201cglobal shame\u201d<\/a>\u00a0has devastating consequences: In parts of Africa, where\u00a0just 6% of the population<\/a>\u00a0is fully vaccinated, as many as 1 in 15 COVID-19 cases\u00a0result in death<\/a>. In countries that are 70% fully vaccinated, that drops to about 1 in 250. As UN Secretary-General Guterres pleaded,\u00a0\u201cThe best way to honor those five million people lost\u2026 is to make vaccine equity a reality.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

The numbers<\/h2>\n