Projections presented at the 5th African Regional Conference on Loss and Damage in Lilongwe show potential losses increasing to between 3% and 9% by 2030 and reaching as high as 16% by 2050.<\/p>\n
The conference has brought together policymakers, researchers and climate experts from across the continent to discuss the escalating economic and social costs of climate change, as well as Africa\u2019s negotiating position in global climate financing frameworks. The summit closes on Friday.<\/p>\n
Malawi\u2019s Natural Resources Minister Patricia Wiskes told delegates that climate change is directly undermining the country\u2019s development prospects. She said the economic damage is already visible in reduced agricultural output, damaged infrastructure and the growing strain on public finances following repeated droughts, floods and cyclones.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs Africa, we must have one negotiating voice,\u201d Wiskes said. \u201cWe have the burden of having to deal with issues of climate change, yet these issues of greenhouse emissions are not propelled by Africans.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She stressed that African countries contribute the least to global emissions but bear a disproportionate share of climate impacts. Wiskes said the Loss and Damage Fund established at recent global climate summits must start delivering tangible benefits to vulnerable African communities.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to unite and speak with one voice to ensure that African countries begin now to benefit from this particular fund,\u201d she said. \u201cThe Africans who have suffered loss and damage as a result of climate disasters must be able to receive compensation for the losses they have endured.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":30106,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-30104","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Malawi is currently losing an estimated 1.7% of its gross domestic product (GDP) every year due to climate\u2011related shocks, a figure expected to rise sharply if global warming continues unchecked. ","published_date":"","news_description":"Malawi is currently losing an estimated 1.7% of its gross domestic product (GDP) every year due to climate\u2011related shocks, a figure expected to rise sharply if global warming continues unchecked. ","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/30104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/30104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30107,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/30104\/revisions\/30107"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=30104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}