Minister of Environment participates in high-level roundtable on turning ambitions into action
BAKU
The 29th session of the Conference of the Parties on Climate (COP) continues for the fourth consecutive day in Baku, Azerbaijan, with the participation of the Mauritanian delegation in all sessions and consultations.
In this context, the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Ms. Messouda Mint Bahham Ould Mohamed Laghdhaf, head of the Mauritanian mission, participated on Wednesday in a high-level roundtable on turning ambitions into action, where she delivered a speech on the occasion in which she warned that the African continent is vulnerable to the effects of the climate crisis, and that the countries most affected by this phenomenon are African countries.
More than 20 million people in Africa have been affected in recent decades by drought and floods, which have had significant repercussions on agriculture, animal development and food security, and ocean level rise has affected the lives of coastal residents.
Aware of the risks caused by climate change, African countries have set a goal to reduce the negative effects of climate change through their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and doubled their ambitions to achieve the goals, but Africa still needs significant and lasting financial support.
She pointed out that African governments have been able to spend about $300 billion of national public resources to finance the implementation of their Nationally Determined Contributions, which translates to about 12 percent of the estimated cost, despite the debt that has burdened them.
She added that the remaining 88% of the funding estimate needed must come from the international community, donors and the private sector, calling for rapid priorities to mobilize financial aid to ensure Africa’s ability to adapt and contribute seriously to efforts to combat climate change.
With regard to Mauritania, the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development explained that it is one of the coastal countries most vulnerable to the impact of climate change and repeated drought since the sixties of the last century, and that desertification is expanding at a rapid pace.
Mauritania’s ratification of the UN Convention on Climate Change reflects its strong commitment to the global path to combat climate warming, she said, stressing “the need to act for our present and the future of our generations before it is too late because our planet needs us”.