Africa remains one of the most vulnerable continents to the effects of climate change, Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said on Tuesday.
”Africa is one of the regions least responsible for climate change, and is also least able to afford the costs of adaptation,” he said at the opening of the African ministerial conference on the environment in Johannesburg.
He said even if global emissions peaked and declined in the next 10 to 15 years, Africa would still remain vulnerable.
According to Van Schalkwyk, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said Africa had a low adaptive capacity and was subjected to multiple stresses when it came to dealing with climate change.
Agricultural production, including access to food, was expected to become severely compromised.
Fish numbers in large lakes were also expected to decrease, particularly through continued over-fishing.
”Regional changes in the distribution and production of particular fish species are also expected,” he said.
Adaptation to climate change was therefore a key consideration for the continent, said van Schalkwyk.
”No agreement on the strengthening of the international climate architecture … will be considered balanced if adaptation is not accorded much higher priority in our deliberations,” he said. — Sapa