COP27 Climate Change Conference: Urgent Action Needed for Africa and the World

Abstract

Wealthy nations must step up support for Africa and vulnerable countries in addressing past, present and future impacts of climate change The 2022 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) paints a dark picture of the future of life on earth, characterised by ecosystem collapse, species extinction, and climate hazards such as heatwaves and floods. [1] These are all linked to physical and mental health problems, with direct and indirect consequences of increased morbidity and mortality. To avoid these catastrophic health effects across all regions of the globe, there is broad agreement—as 231 health journals argued together in 2021— that the rise in global temperature must be limited to less than 1.5 oC compared with pre-industrial levels. While the Paris Agreement of 2015 outlines a global action framework that incorporates providing climate finance to developing countries, this support has yet to materialise. [2] COP27 is the fifth Conference of the Parties (COP) to be organised in Africa since its inception in 1995. Ahead of this meeting, we—as health journal editors from across the continent—call for urgent action to ensure it is the COP that finally delivers climate justice for Africa and vulnerable countries. This is essential not just for the health of those countries, but for the health of the whole world. Africa Has Suffered Disproportionately Although it Has Done Little to Cause the Crisis The climate crisis has had an impact on the environmental and social determinants of health across Africa, leading to devastating health effects.[3] Impacts on health can result directly from environmental shocks and indirectly through socially mediated effects.[4] Climate change-related risks in Africa include flooding, drought, heatwaves, reduced food production, and reduced labour productivity.[5] Droughts in sub-Saharan Africa have tripled between 1970-79 and 2010-2019.[6] In 2018, devastating cyclones impacted three million people in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.[6] In west and central Africa, severe flooding resulted in mortality and forced migration from loss of shelter, cultivated land, and livestock.[7] Changes in vector