Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech
United Nations report says citizens can be supportive of radical change if backed by evidence
The science-backed response to Covid-19 has shown that drastic policy intervention is possible, and Africa should employ the same tactic against climate change, a United Nations report has argued.
The report was published on 23 June by the UN Economic Commission for Africa’s African Climate Policy Centre.
“The lesson of Covid-19 … is that science can in fact be translated into urgent policy decisions if there is sufficient political will,” the report says. But there is a caveat: “Climate science in Africa (just like health science) is weak and underfunded.”
A major drawback is that African climate scientists are forced to rely on data and observation infrastructure from other regions.
“[There is] very little investment in climate observation infrastructure, and even less investment in the capacities of national meteorological services,” the report states.
Unlike the Covid-19 pandemic, which some countries tackled by closing borders, the response to climate change requires a more cross-border and united approach to be effective, it adds.
“Funds required to underwrite climate actions actually exist, and the same approach used to mobilise Covid-19 funds should secure even greater investment in a carbon-neutral economy,” the report states.
One upshot of the virus response is that it shows that, given ample scientific explanation, societies can support drastic changes for the good of Africa and Africans, the report argues. “Scientific evidence is key in garnering support for radical measures.”