MASERU, Lesotho (AP) – The Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres Thursday urged rich countries to honor their pledges to help the world's poor fight climate change in a speech to the Parliament of Lesotho and again that hope Africa soon it would have permanent seats UN Security Council.
Guterres is on a three-day visit to southern Africa and was in South Africa on Wednesday. His two-day visit to neighboring Lesotho, a small landlocked mountain kingdom, will also see him visit the Katse Dam, an integral part of the country's plans to harness its water resources.
The focus of Guterres' visit has been the money poor countries in Africa and elsewhere must deal with the effects of a warming planet. While Africa makes a small contribution to global warming, it is one of the worst affected continents.
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Countries adopt an agreement at the UN climate talks in Azerbaijan last month to bring in at least $300 billion a year to help developing countries cope with global warming. It was far short of the more than $1 trillion that developing countries wanted.
“Developed countries must fulfill their commitments … and deliver the $300 billion promised annually for climate finance,” Gutteres told Lesotho lawmakers. “Countries are stuck and the least developed like you especially vulnerable.”
He also said the New Lost and Damaged Property created to compensate poor countries for natural disasters caused by climate change “must be quickly implemented and generously financed by those most responsible for climate destruction.”
South Africa is in custody one of his worst droughtscausing a hunger crisis that has affected more than 27 million people, according to the UN Lesotho is one of several countries that have declared national disasters due to the devastating effect of the drought on crops.
The drought has been blamed on the naturally occurring El Niño weather phenomenon, but other crises such as the recent deadly cholera outbreak and floods throughout the East African region due to climate change.
This year's report by the World Meteorological Organization said that African countries lose up to 5% of their gross domestic product every year and carry a heavier burden than others from climate change.
Guterres said in South Africa on Wednesday that he hoped that Africa would at least two permanent members of the Security Council before his term ends in December 2026, although he acknowledged it would be difficult. In Lesotho, he said it was another “injustice” against Africa that a continent of more than 1.4 billion was still without permanent representation on that group.
“When a continent that is home to almost a fifth of humanity is still systematically excluded from global decision-making, we must say that this is , as a remnant of colonialism that has no place in today's world,” said Guterres.
On Friday, Guterres is expected to visit the Katse Dam, which is part of the Highland Water Project in Lesotho. The project aims to build a series of dams and tunnels to redirect some of Lesotho's water into the South African river system to help ease it. lack of water to his neighbors.
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Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa.
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AP Africa News: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
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