Africa– Mozambique faces another humanitarian crisis as Cyclone Kenneth makes landfall in the north of the country. After three people were killed on the island of Comoros, the cyclone gathered speed hitting the coast of Mozambique at 220km/h (140mph) late on Thursday evening. According to the BBC, there is no previous record of hurricane-force systems ever hitting the region so far north before.
Landry Ninteretse, 350Africa, Regional Team Leader said:
“The result of Cyclone Kenneth means that thousands of people in those two countries will be faced with consequences that will be felt beyond this moment. It is a tragedy that points to the bigger crisis that humanity is faced with.”
Migration will be inevitable as a storm of this magnitude will bring a force of destruction that will be difficult to recover from. Africa needs to do a lot more to build climate resilience in the face of the climate crisis. Cyclone Idai was a powerful demonstration of this and now Cyclone Kenneth is another demonstration of the urgent need for sustainable adaptation and mitigation solutions.
Amidst the speculation of the scale of damage and destruction that these countries will face. 350 reiterates its call for real climate action.
With just a 1-degree temperature rise the continent faces increasing sea levels, wildfires, drought and flooding, Even though Africa is estimated to produce just 4% of global carbon emissions – compared to 80% by the most industrialised countries (G20), it is the continent that pays the highest price
Landry Ninteretse:
“For us, climate change is not a future risk, it’s already a reality evident in wrecked families, lands and livelihoods, and homeless children and young people who have no choice but to seek a future by migrating. We urgently need to step up efforts in Africa to adapt to a rapidly changing environment before more harm is brought to frontline communities who face the brunt of climate impacts.”
350Africa.org and regional partners are organising AfrikaVuka Day on May 25th to call on governments and institutions to come up with stronger strategies against fossil fuel development which is aggravating the climate crisis on a continent which is wracked by climate impacts.”