Africa emits less but loses 2%–5% of GDP battling climate extremes, says WMO

Africa faces an increasingly heavy toll from climate change with many countries having to spend up to 9 per cent of their budgets battling climate extremes, a World Meteorological Organization (WMO) report said on Monday.

Despite producing far lower greenhouse gas emissions than other continents, Africa’s temperatures have risen more rapidly than the global average.

African countries are now losing on average 2–5 per cent of gross domestic product responding to deadly heatwaves, heavy rains, floods, cyclones, and prolonged droughts, said the WMO’s State of the Climate in Africa 2023 report.

For sub-Saharan Africa, adapting to the changing climate will cost an estimated $30-50 billion per year over the next decade, it said, urging countries to invest in state meteorological and hydrological services and to speed up the implementation of early warning systems to save lives.

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The warning comes as African countries mull how to use this year’s UN COP meetings to secure a bigger share of global climate financing.

The 54-nation continent has been attracting more funds for climate mitigation and adaptation projects in recent years, but it still gets less than 1 per cent of annual global climate financing, government officials said earlier in August.