How climate change is threatening millions of lives in Somalia

Asha Muse has come to the dam from Sanaag region, in the far north, with her husband and three of their children. Across Somalia, more than 615,000 people have been forced from their homes by thirst and hunger since November 2016 Photograph: UNDP

MOGADISHU, Somalia - The federal republic of Somalia has been on the receiving end for the last couple of months following a devastating drought, which has technically put at risk several lives, with dozens having been confirmed dead so far.

In his address at the Stockholm +50, Ahmed Yusuf, the director of the environment and climate change, at the office of the Somali PM, decried that the Horn of Africa nation is facing the worst drought in as many years, adding that the climate change triggered the current situation.

"The country is currently experiencing its worst drought in over four decades, which is especially daunting considering the fact that the country has already faced three major droughts in the last ten years," he said in his statement adding that over 6 million people are currently affected by the drought.

According to the most recent climate projections, he said, these shocks are only set to become more common and destructive. He also noted that resource-based conflict, poverty, and food distress are becoming a constant feature that we believe is being driven and exacerbated by climate emergencies.

The climate finance that Somalia receives, he said, is not enough to support Somalia’s efforts in combating the effects of climate change.
Green climate financing is often difficult for fragile states to attain, Yusuf added in his speech.

"We need to push for climate financing to be more accessible for fragile states, which are often, as in Somalia’s case, the countries which have contributed the least to global climate change and yet are facing the worst consequences.

Or at the very least, wealthier countries need to at least stick to their $100 billion climate finance commitment," the director noted.

Delegates at the Stockholm+50 called for real commitment to urgently address global environmental concerns and for a just transition to sustainable economies that work for all people. Kenya and Sweden were co-hosts of the two-day international meeting.

Several recommendations for action include, among others, placing human well-being at the center of a healthy planet and prosperity for all; recognizing and implementing the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment; adopting systemwide changes in the way our current economic system works, and accelerate transformations of high impact sectors were highlighted.

“We believe that we have – collectively – mobilized and used the potential of this meeting. We now have a blueprint of acceleration to take further,” Sweden’s Minister for Climate and the Environment, Annika Strandhäll, said in her closing remarks. “Stockholm+50 has been a milestone on our path towards a healthy planet for all, leaving no one behind.”

Participants are looking for a way of mitigating climate change which has affected thousands of people across the world with Somalia being one of the countries worst affected. The country declared a state of emergency last year and asked the international community to chip in and assist.

“The variety of voices and bold messages that have emerged from these two days demonstrate a genuine wish to live up to the potential of this meeting and build a future for our children and grandchildren on this, our only planet,” said Keriako Tobiko, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for the Environment. “We didn’t just come here to commemorate, but to build forward and better, based on the steps taken since 1972.”

"We came to Stockholm 50 years after the UN Conference on the Human Environment knowing that something must change. Knowing that if we do not change, the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste will only accelerate," said Inger Andersen, Secretary-General of Stockholm+50 and Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme.

GAROWE ONLINE