By Tinashe Masimbe
Will the legally binding agreement work in favor of the African communities to effectively adapt to climate health related issues particularly in Zimbabwe?
According to the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), “Africa is likely to be the continent most vulnerable to climate change. Among the risks the continent faces are reductions in food security and agricultural productivity, particularly regarding subsistence agriculture, increased water stress and, as a result of these and the potential for increased exposure to disease and other health risks, increased risks to human health”.
Increases in temperature, climate change induced natural disasters and scarcity of safe drinking water due to the series of recurring droughts and flooding are major contributors to the spread of infectious and water-borne communicable diseases in Zimbabwe. Many more millions are being exposed to malaria already a leading cause of death in Africa.
Human health, already compromised by a range of factors, could be further hit by the negative impacts of climate change and climate variability for example, previously malaria-free highland areas in Africa including Zimbabwe could also experience incidences of malaria by 2050s, with the conditions for transmission becoming highly suitable by 2080s according to TERI.
Effective adaptation efforts in Africa are crucial, and they should be supported financially and politically by many different stakeholders in Africa and around the world.Climate finance should be directed as a priority to the most vulnerable developing countries.Climate researchers say, “The issue of climate related health burden is described as almost inverse to global distribution of green house gas emissions”
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Predictions are that loss of healthy life years due to environmental change in Africa is five hundred times greater than Europe and yet health is recognized globally as a fundamental human right (McMicheal,2008).
Analysts have indicated that Africans represent just a small fraction of the global voices partaking in the crucial conversation about climate change.
In the beginning of July 2015 researchers from around the globe met at UNESCO headquarters in Paris for the largest international scientific conference on global warming,only 10 percent of those participants came from Africa, one of the world’s worst affected regions.
African communities, different from developed countries can not necessarily go down the road of heavy carbon taxes as Africans are one of the least carbon emitters in the world.Though experts say Africa still has its responsibilities to reduce carbon emissions.
According to CIGI special report, African efforts for climate change adaptations and health should be linked to innovative strategies to improve global health governance.
A well the represented African voice can make “Climate change the biggest global health opportunity of the 21st century” and a turning point for African climate health challenges.
