• DP Ruto said the growing threat of climate change and the disruption it continues to cause must be addressed.
• In Kenya, 132 people have died, 17,000 displaced and over 11,000 livestock swept away since October due to flooding and landslides caused by heavy rains.
Image: DPPS
Deputy President William Ruto has called for climate change action among Africa, Caribbean and Pacific countries.
Speaking during the opening of the 110th session of the ACP Council of Ministers meeting at KICC on Saturday, DP Ruto said the growing threat of climate change and the disruption it continues to cause must be addressed.
“It is a reality that although some of the ACP members in the pacific only contribute 0.03 per cent of the world's carbon dioxide emissions, the millions of people who live there are experiencing some of the earliest and most severe consequences and some might run out of freshwater long before they run out of land,” the Deputy President said.
“People are already feeling the effects of climate change across Africa. Evidence shows that the change in temperature has affected the health, livelihoods, food productivity, water availability, and overall security of our people,” Ruto added.
Kenya is hosting the 9th ACP Heads of States Summit on December 9-10 under the theme: A Transformed ACP: Committed to Multilateralism”.
It was preceded by ministerial sessions from December 6-8 at the KICC.
Over the past 25 years, the Deputy President said, the number of weather-related disasters, such as floods and droughts, has doubled, resulting in the region having a higher mortality rate from droughts than any other region.
Ruto spoke soon after government spokesperson Cyrus Oguna confirmed 132 people have died, 17,000 displaced and over 11,000 livestock swept away since October due to flooding and landslides caused by heavy rains. In the East African region, at least 250 people have died and affected three million others.
Weather experts say the heavy rains are linked to what they call the Indian Ocean Dipole, which is “an irregular oscillation of sea-surface temperatures in which the western Indian Ocean becomes alternately warmer and then colder than the eastern part of the ocean.”
Ruto further noted that projections estimate that climate change will lead to an equivalent of two to four per cent annual loss in GDP in the region by 2040.
“I, therefore, urge that as a group of nations, we must continue to speak in one voice on this issue and work towards developing sustainable solutions that will support the most vulnerable of our population,” he said.
President of ACP Council of Ministers Patrick Pruaitch from Papua New Guinea said it is time to move from rhetoric to action.
"..it is high time to transcend current inefficient discourse and implement measures aimed at tackling the growing global environmental crisis and simultaneously strive for more equitable international economic relations that would be the basis for promoting sustainable development. This is our future," he said.
He, however, noted that even as the member states continue to grapple with the drastic impact of natural disasters resulting from climate change, the picture is not all grim.
"Indeed, a “triple win” is within the ACP’s grasp, as renewable technologies create opportunities to increase agricultural productivity, improve resilience to climate change and contribute to long-term reductions in dangerous carbon emissions," Pruaitch said.