LAST MONTH on September 20, just three days before the world’s leaders gathered in New York to debate the urgent measures needed to stem the tide of global warming and  its attendant Armageddon, nearly 400,000 people took to the streets of New York to demand for more stringent commitments from governments. The protesters came from different countries around the world – Central Africa, the Sahel and the Horn of Africa’s regions where shrinking lakes and forests and expanding deserts, like run-away inflation, are wreaking havoc with regional ecosystems and efforts to reconstruct devastated economies.

One good example of how we have recklessly abandoned protecting our ecosystems is the way we take water availability for granted. Forget about our water, energy and sanitation agencies which a friend of mine called ‘energy and water sometimes available’! It is said that fresh water on this planet is a looming crisis that is slowly breaking up on an apathetic world. It is further said that 1 per cent of water on this planet is for us humans and about 2 per cent of that is locked up in ice that is slowly but surely melting, uselessly, into the oceans.

Some of these problems can be solved but as humanity keep on multiplying as if there is no tomorrow, this shrinking resource will be fought over more and more. If nothing changes in the near future, it will not be oil that causes wars, but water.

The longest river in the world, the Nile, flows through much of Africa and multiple countries, yet a colonial legacy, is said to give 90 per cent of its water to Egypt. I am informed that this could change in the near future and that would be good news for the riparian states. Ethiopia, the country where 85 per cent of the water originates, is going through projects to keep as much of that water as possible at the expense of Egypt.

Let us examine climate change as it affects our continent. In my previous article on climate change and why we must make it history, I argued that although climate change is a critical issue facing the world, it is deeply felt throughout the African continent, which ironically contributes a small carbon footprint. It is interesting that our continent has to deal with other peoples’ actions of omission and commission. I think it is high time we began to seriously consider the ‘polluters pays’ principle, which is a commonly accepted practice that those who produce pollution should bear the costs of managing it to prevent damage to human health or the environment. This principle underpins most of the regulation of polluting affecting land, water and air.

So many international conferences and panels have taken place in the recent past to address issues pertaining to climate change in Africa. Yet these conferences have done little to initiate a serious and practical action plan to address challenges bequeathed by climate change.

It is high time our own scientists stopped basking in the glory of their research whose findings are not shared with society that they should serve in the first place. Our scientists should take a lead in taking action by getting directly involved in research on climate change as well as having continued dialogue with our policy makers.

I have no doubt that climate change ranks as one of the most important issues of our time facing global environment policy makers. As it is well known, there are serious concerns about equity between nations. While on one hand carbon emissions are generated in well to do parts of the world, there are negative consequences being felt in our continent whose carbon emissions are, to say the least, modest.

According to reliable evidence, Africa’s per capita emissions make a negligible contribution to overall global emissions. The evidence is not difficult to see even to a layman. How many manufacturing industries do we have in comparison with the developed West? However, the potential consequences of climate change for our continent’s people and its ecological systems are extremely severe.

Rwanda has realised the debilitating effects of climate change and set up two years ago, a groundbreaking environment and climate change fund – the biggest in Africa. This fund was formally launched two weeks ago by the Prime Minister together with the Minister for Natural Resources. Fonerwa, as the fund is commonly known, is expected to be the engine of Rwanda’s green growth for the next fifty years, while at the same time serving as a touchstone for Africa and the rest of the world. The Government should be congratulated for this inspiring undertaking which will hopefully contribute investing in our future.

Africa, and indeed the world, must take climate change seriously. Unless and until we do so, our development as a continent will be unfortunately compromised.

The writer is a consultant and visiting lecturer at the RDF Senior Command and Staff College, Nyakinama.

oscar_kim2000@yahoo.co.uk