Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Maputo (Agenzia Fides)- Greenhouse gas emissions by industrialised countries threaten Africa, the continent which contributes less to global warming. This was stated by the United Nations Development Programme in a report “Fighting Climate Change: human solidarity in a divided world” presented on 27 November in various cities including Brasilia, capital of Brazil. Unless the 2 degree Celsius increase in the global temperature is stopped in ten years time the consequences for Sub-Saharan Africa could be very serious: the breakdown of agricultural systems as a result of increased exposure to drought, rising temperatures, and more erratic rainfall, leaving up to 600 million more people facing malnutrition; an increase in illnesses carried by flies and mosquitoes such as malaria and Rift Valley fever.
“The world's poor people, those who produce less emissions of carbon monoxide have no means of protection, they are the first victims of developed countries' high energy consuming lifestyle” said one of the authors of the report. The effects of global warming are beginning to be felt in industrialised countries: people have to regulate thermostats, use air conditioning in summers which are ever longer and hotter and they observe the changes in the seasons. But in poor countries like those of Sub-Saharan Africa, the consequences are far worse: floods followed by periods of drought with loss of harvests and people suffering from hunger. In the long run climate change threatens to undermine development in whole areas of the planet, the report affirms.
Cutting greenhouse gas emissions must not become a pretext for stopping Africans from obtaining electrical power. Certainly it will not be possible to copy the western lifestyle (to a great extend scandalous for the waste of resources which could be used for more noble purposes). Recourse to solar energy in a 'hot' continent is one possible alternative to using fossil fuels. Mozambique for example has launched a programme to install solar panels in regions not covered by the national electricity grid. The electricity produced will serve, first of all to allow hospitals and schools to function. By the end of 2008 at least 150 schools and the same number of hospitals will obtain electrical power from the sun. In 2005 less than 8% of the people of Mozambique had access to electricity, and most of this percentage lives in urban areas. In rural areas only 2% has access to electricity. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 28/11/2007 righe 29 parole 388)
