The Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) has called on African states to give the Covid-19 pandemic a greener look and attempt to juggle the two crises with sincerity.
In commemoration of Earth Day, the PACJA Executive Director Mithika Mwenda said it would prove difficult in the long run for states to spend so much on mitigation of the Covid-19 pandemic but forget climate change, which has claimed many lives in Africa.
He referred to news that at least 48 people had been killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, after it rained only once.
In Kenya, landslides claimed at least 12 lives overnight after flash floods. Many parts of the country have suffered flooding, and thousands displaced.
As the world marked the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, Mithika said it would be key for governments to help their people, including the indigenous communities that interact with nature more closely, to conserve them by ensuring the green climate fund reaches the grassroots.
He said there were adequate legislations to ensure climate actions, but countries were lacking in implementation.
The climate justice activist also indicated that the Covid-19 and climate crisis were two dangerous evils running at different paces but killing masses all the same.
“Coronavirus is running a short 100 metre race, while climate change is on a marathon. At the end of the day both will have killed huge numbers and messed our economies,” he said.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres linked the global coronavirus recovery to the climate change crisis in a sharply worded message marking the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Read more…
