Kenyan president warns Africa's GDP may fall 30% due to climate change

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) - President Uhuru Kenyatta said Tuesday that in the absence of urgent climate change adaptation action, Africa's GDP risks contracting by up to 30% by 2050.

“Evidence indicates that climate change will have a devastating socio-economic impact across the world and quite severely in Africa,” Kenyatta said in a video address to celebrate Africa Adaptation Acceleration Day.

"If we do not take any action Africa could, as a consequence, see its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contract by up to 30 percent by 2050 due to climate change," the President said.

Kenyatta urged the global community to support the accelerated rollout of adaptation programs in Africa to mitigate the growing adverse effects of climate change as well as strengthen the continent's resilience.

He said while it is relatively more difficult to design and implement adaptation projects and with fewer resources currently available for adaptation across the world, “we should not lose sight of the fact that adaptation is, without doubt, smart economics”.

The summit at the University of Nairobi was held in partnership with the Global Centre on Adaptation (GCA) and is a precursor to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland beginning at the end of the month.

Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva also spoke at the hybrid meeting.