Africa focus for climate summit
November 6, 2006
Delegates are gathering in Nairobi for the latest round of UN climate talks, which will focus on helping poorer countries adapt to a changing climate.
A UN report released on the eve of the talks forecast dire climate impacts on parts of Africa.
Yields of crops will fall, it said, while rising seas could engulf cities.
This is the 12th set of UN climate talks since the Rio Earth Summit of 1992, but data released last week shows greenhouse gas levels are still rising.
The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said carbon dioxide concentrations rose by half a percent during 2005, and will not start falling unless a stronger agreement than the Kyoto Protocol materialises.
Crops and floods
The new report from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) paints a stark picture of why measures to help African countries "climate-proof" their societies, economies and infrastructure are now widely seen as vital.
Yields of major crops such as maize, millet and sorghum will fall, it concludes, while large portions of cities including Lagos, Dar-es-Salaam and Cape Town could disappear under rising seas.
"There are also major impacts in highly elevated areas like Mount Kenya and Mount Kilimanjaro whose glaciers, ice caps and run-off are important for water supplies," said Michel Jarraud, secretary-general of the WMO which contributed data to the report.
Last week a review issued by British economist Sir Nicholas Stern also warned of a disproportionate impact of climate change on the poorest countries, while a number of development agencies have made the same argument.
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