ADDIS ABABA, March 3 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (AU) on Sunday stressed Africa's vulnerability to variations in natural and human-induced climate change, which is exacerbated by the associated extremes such as droughts and floods.
The African continent "is projected to be the second hardest hit by climate change impacts, immediately following polar zones," the AU said in a statement. "Climate change impacts are already constraining economic development and sometimes reverse years of economic gains."
About 90 percent of natural disasters in sub-Saharan Africa are weather- and climate-related, which in turn affects the economic output of countries by 10 to 20 percent, the statement said.
"Africa's development, climate and resilience agendas are therefore intricately linked," the pan-African bloc said.
"Warming in the range of three to four degrees Celsius would have disastrous consequences for Africa, including heat extremes affecting the vast majority of the continent's land areas, heightened risks of extreme drought (particularly in southern Africa), reduced yield and crop failures, and flooding," the AU statement said.
It said adapting to climate variability and change is the key to achieving Africa's development targets such as the 2030 and 2063 agendas, and international development goals such as the Sustainable Development Goals.
The AU statement came days ahead of the Africa Climate Resilience Investment Summit, scheduled for March 5-7 in South Africa.
The event is expected to bring representatives of the AU, the Africa Climate Resilient Investment Facility, the African Development Bank, the UN Economic Commission for Africa, and the World Bank group, according to the AU.
