The Sunday Mail
Extra Reporter
African countries should invest more in climate change research and avoid relying on developed nations for research material since this will compromise the interests of the continent given the fact that industrialised nations are reluctant to fully co-operate with Africa in combating climate change.
These concerns were raised at the Fifth Conference on Climate and Development in Africa in Victoria Falls last week.
Delegates drawn from various African countries said while Africa is the one which is being affected by climate change the most, it was worrying that there is little locally funded research on the phenomenon.
Delegates said in as much as sharing research findings with the outside world was good, overdoing it would end up in serving the interests of the developed world which nonetheless has a consistent record of dragging feet when it comes to reducing industrial emissions.
Professor Fredrick Semazzi from United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) said Africa ought to do its own researches if it is going to come up with home-grown solutions to address climate change.
“Some of our initiatives are failing because there is a cycle which is preventing us from reaching our goals,” he said. “The cycle begins with poor support and limited funding. And also there is low climate change research in Africa and I think this area needs to be rectified for certain targets to be achieved.”
Matabeleland North Minister of State Cain Mthema said the continent should not wait to be told by others when it has its own competent researchers. “Where are the researchers, where are the researches done for Africa by Africans,” he asked. “Why should we always rely on other people to tell us what the problem is and what we should do?”
Environment, Water and Climate Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri said all policies should be guided by research.
“As scientists and researchers, we need to work very hard to ensure that our climate change policies are informed by research,” she said.
Climate change has affected food security and provision of water and sanitation in the Africa despite the continent being the least polluter of the world.
