What the 2022 International Climate Conference (COP27) must achieve.
COP27: Prioritising Africa and the Fight Against Hunger
Our Expectations for the 27th UN Climate Change (COP27)
Bonn/Berlin, November 06, 2022. The upcoming climate conference in Sharm El Sheikh will have to deal with difficult geopolitical circumstances that could even endanger recent progress on climate protection. Next to armed conflicts, the climate crisis is the biggest contributor to hunger worldwide. The number of people going hungry has risen up to 828 million and millions of families could lose their livelihoods due to the climate crisis.
Extreme weather events in recent months—from heatwaves and droughts in Africa, Asia, and Europe to catastrophic flooding in Pakistan and West Africa—are a dramatic reminder of how urgent it has already become to find a solution to the climate crisis.
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The focus should be shifted towards African countries because the climate crisis is striking them the hardest despite Africa being responsible for only 3.3 percent of global CO2 emissions. In the Horn of Africa, more than 36 million people are currently suffering from the region’s worst drought in 40 years.
"People in Africa are paying the highest price"
"Climate protection cannot be allowed to come at the cost of food security. The impact of human-caused climate change on the nutrition of the most impoverished people, especially women and girls, is devastating. Combating climate change is a matter of global justice because the people suffering the most are the ones who have contributed to the problem the least. People in Africa are paying the highest price, with over 100 million people expected to experience droughts, flooding, and extreme heatwaves by the end of this decade as a result of climate change."
"The climate conferences must give greater priority to food security, and industrial countries must fulfil the financial commitments they made at past conferences. We need more international co-operation and more progress on climate protection, adaptation, and funding as well as losses and damages. There must also be more support for African countries beginning to transition to climate-friendly energy," urges Michael Kühn, a climate expert for Welthungerhilfe.
Michael Kühn will be at the climate conference in Sharm El Sheikh from the 13th to the 20th of November 2022 and is available for interview.
To learn more about the issues Welthungerhilfe would like the German government to support at COP27, please see our latest policy brief.
Welthungerhilfe turns 60 this year. It is one of the largest private aid organizations in Germany and has no political or religious affiliations. With courage and determination, Welthungerhilfe has been working towards a world without hunger since its inception on 14 December 1962, during which time it has provided funding of EUR 4.46 billion for more than 10,895 overseas projects in around 70 countries. Welthungerhilfe operates on the basic principle of empowering people to help themselves, which it implements with measures ranging from rapid disaster relief to rehabilitation to long-term development co-operation projects with national and international partner organizations.
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