COP27 Climate Change Conference: urgent action needed for Africa and the world
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This editorial - written by health journal editors across the African continent - emphasizes that the suffering of frontline nations should be the core consideration at COP27. The climate crisis has disproportionately impacted Africa, including devastating droughts, cyclones, flooding, increased vector-born disease, reduced water quality, and food insecurity. This is highly unjust given African nations have contributed the least to global cumulative emissions.
The authors ask wealthy nations to step up - if not for moral reasons than out of self-interest. If global inaction on climate change persists, the crises in Africa will soon spread to all corners of the globe. They recommend scaled up funding ($100bn per year) towards both adaptation to existing and inevitable future impacts of the climate crisis, along with mitigation strategies for reducing emissions within vulnerable countries, in order to avoid a spiral of global destabilization.