•Climate change
Former features editor at Thisday, Adeola Akinremi, who led a campaign against public smoking in Africa early 2000s, is urging leaders to pay attention to climate change.
In an online interview, Akinremi, chief executive officer of Action & Campaign for Africa (DACA), said he’s focusing on working with leaders and businesses to prioritise action on climate change.
The measures needed, Akinremi said, would require moving beyond rhetoric and attendance at COPs and other meetings to focusing on efforts that can protect livelihoods and communities.
“Africa has the world’s lowest per capita greenhouse gas emissions, but the impact is felt strongly on the continent,” he said.
“Africa is one of the hardest hit and we don’t have the shock absorber. Africa’s poorest communities are powerless in face of extreme weather events.
These are altering weather patterns in sub-Saharan Africa, resulting in negative impacts on livelihoods, food security, nutrition, and national economies.”
Akinremi said Africa should invest in climate adaptation and mitigation with accelerated gear.
“We have seen devastating consequences of flooding and the health of people. Agriculture is affected and cholera and malaria cases have continued to surge, especially in places of poverty and conflict, with outbreaks reported in 26 countries and fatality rates rising,” he said.
A joint U.N.-African Union report, The State of the Climate in Africa 2022, in September, claimed disasters, such as Horn of Africa’s worst drought in 40 years and Algerian wildfires, resulted in 5,000 deaths and over $8.5 billion in economic damage.
