The organization of countries I chose from Yasmin and Depledge is the African Group. The African Group is comprised of nations that have similar socioeconomic and climate change related problems facing them. The African Group is different from most groups in that most of its members are also a part of the LDCs (Least Developed Countries). These nations have a chance to interact both as representatives of Africa and the world’s poorest and least developed countries.
The African Group aligns its interests based on others on their continent which are experiencing similar threats to climate change due to their geographic location and weather. The African Group finds its similarities in “poverty, lack of resources, and vulnerability to extreme weather” (Yasmin and Depledge 5). Africa has been notorious for droughts and floods that affect millions of people: these occurrences are likely to increase a direct effect of climate change. Desertification in particular is of great concern to African governments: droughts that turn fertile land to sand or cracked hardened mud result in famine and violent conflict. Conflicts are very often environmentally- or resource-based; take, for example, the current genocide in Sudan, the genocide in Rwanda or the continued political unrest in the Great Lakes region.
One problem that the African Group faces is the language barriers that exist between country representatives. The many dialects make communication difficult. The oil interests of Algeria and Nigeria also clash with the interests of the rest of the African nations.
Another pressing issue that the African Group faces that was not elaborated upon in the article is the growing threat of malaria all over the continent. As some may know, many African cities like Nairobi have been built above the “malaria line”, or where malaria-carrying mosquitoes cannot live. However, because of climate change, this line has been moving steadily upwards, putting many millions of Africans in danger of malaria exposure. The costs of malaria are not only human lives; malarial medicines and prevention techniques are costly to already poor governments.
Tags: African Group, climate change and malaria, malaria line, poverty
