At Cop26 a plan is urgently needed that will allow Africa to develop as well as adapt to global heating
- Lazarus Chakwera is president of Malawi
When will rich countries take responsibility? Last week, ahead of Cop26 in Glasgow, it was revealed that many of them had lobbied against the UN’s climate recommendations – namely that urgent action is needed. At the same time, some questioned the need to fund poorer countries to adapt to the effects of climate change – despite the failure by developed countries to deliver the $100bn (£75bn) they had pledged.
Africa has done little to create the climate crisis. Yet the locust plagues in the Horn of Africa, the first climate change famine in Madagascar and the water crises in southern Africa are all evidence that my continent is already paying the price of others’ emissions. The fund that some would like diminished is not charity, but a cleaning fee that must be paid.
Lazarus Chakwera is president of Malawi, chair of the 46-member Least Developed Countries and chair of Southern Africa Development Community
