As the 24th annual conference of the United Nations Convention on Climate Change, known as COP24, opens on Monday, 3 December 2018, in Katowice, Poland, once again, the AfDB will ensure that the voice of Africa is heard loud and clear in global climate negotiations.

The Bank, representing Africa’s 54 nations, says it stands ready to defend the continent’s interests on the international arena.

At COP24, the Bank will therefore pursue its advocacy work and mission to help the countries of Africa address the issue of climate change and begin their transitions towards green growth and low-carbon development.

To this end, Amadou Hott, the Bank’s Vice President for power, energy, climate change and green growth, will lead a delegation of climate change experts in various fields (water and sanitation, transport, urbanization and sustainable cities …), able to shed light on the diversity and complexity of the issues raised by climate change.

The Bank also has its own Pavilion, branded in its colors. An intense program, several conferences and daily round tables will be featured in the Pavilion, throughout the two weeks of the event.

Africa, on the front line of climate change impact

The degree of urgency is especially acute in the case of Africa, one of the regions of the world most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, as evidenced again by the terrible drought in East Africa in 2017 and the drought endured by South Africa in 2018. In the 10-year period from 1995 to 2015, the African continent has suffered 136 episodes of drought, 77 of which have been in East Africa alone.

Drought, flood, rising sea levels, extreme weather events that threaten people’s food security, “climate migrants” – the list goes on, and the “bill” for climate change proves a high one for the African continent, despite its contributing less than 4% of world greenhouse gas emissions.

Of the 10 countries in the world considered most threatened by climate change, 7 are in Africa: Central African Republic, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and South Sudan. And climate change is even responsible for shaving off 1.4 points of GDP in Africa every year.

As the president of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, has repeatedly said, it is urgent to act. At stake: the future of the continent – and its development and most importantly, the survival of the entire planet.

“With climate change there are no winners and no losers. Either we all win together, or we all lose together,” Adesina often says.

COP24 will take place from 3 to 14 December 2018, in Katowice, Poland.