By Zanji Sinkala
On the 29th of November 2023, during the Conference on Public Health in Africa (CPHIA) held in Lusaka, Zambia, a newly unveiled civil society network aimed at tackling pandemics and climate crises in Africa was introduced.
Named the Resilience Action Network Africa (RANA), this initiative is the result of collaboration among more than 30 African organizations affiliated with the global Pandemic Action Network (PAN), which originated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The intricate connection between pandemics and climate crises is often overlooked, as people may not readily recognize the profound interplay between these two global challenges.
Despite their distinct origins and manifestations, both pandemics and climate crises share striking similarities that emphasize their severity and the urgent need for comprehensive attention.
RANA has taken off with a strategy of collaborating with the Pandemic Action Network (PAN) to address Africa’s challenges, including surging climate change challenges, disease outbreaks, gender inequality, food insecurity, and financial instability.
It aims to draw on PAN’s established success in networked advocacy focused on preventing, preparing for, and responding to pandemics.
“The idea is that PAN and RANA will work really closely in the pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, and climate and health crisis space,” PAN executive director Eloise Todd spoke in an interview with Health Policy Watch. “We will basically work in lock-step to ensure that community voices and African countries are presented in global processes.”
The connection between pandemics and climate crises cannot be ignored any longer, and the consequences that come with each of them should not be addressed in silos.
Firstly, both pandemics and climate crises demonstrate the profound impact of human activities on the delicate balance of planet Earth.
Whether it’s the encroachment into natural habitats or the increased global movement of people and goods, human actions contribute significantly to the emergence and spread of infectious diseases, as well as the exacerbation of climate-related issues.
Secondly, both crises emphasize the vulnerability of marginalized communities. In the case of pandemics, disadvantaged populations often bear a disproportionate burden due to limited access to healthcare resources.
Similarly, climate change disproportionately affects communities with fewer resources, exacerbating existing social and economic inequalities.
“If you think about the INB [Intergovernmental Negotiating Body] negotiating the pandemic treaty, for example, we want to make sure that we insert the voices of the low and middle-income countries. We want to do that more deliberately and invest more to have this separate, independent entity and really walk the walk and take our lead from an independent, partnered organization,” added Todd.
In this vein, RANA’s initial initiative involves promoting African leaders to endorse a plan for pandemic action. This entails urging African nations to dedicate sustained domestic funding to address essential gaps in pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response within the continent.
The campaign also advocates for the expansion of local manufacturing of health-related products, such as diagnostics, medicines, and vaccines, and further extends to making African health systems responsive to gender considerations and resilient to both pandemics and climate-related challenges.
In October and November of 2023, East Africa experienced devastating flooding in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia, a crisis exacerbated up to two times by human-induced climate change, according to a rapid attribution analysis by the World Weather Attribution group.
The study revealed that the positive phase of the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), combined with climate change, doubled the intensity of rainfall, resulting in an unusually extreme event.
The heavy downpours, which commenced in late October, triggered widespread floods, displacing millions and claiming at least 300 lives across Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia.
Homes and infrastructure were destroyed, transport systems disrupted, and a camp in Eastern Kenya housing around 300,000 Somali refugees was inundated.
Notably, this deluge followed a three-year drought worsened by climate change, as highlighted in a previous study by the World Weather Attribution group.
The study acknowledged challenges in quantifying the exact contribution of climate change due to model uncertainties but emphasized the undeniable signal of climate change in the event.
Despite limitations, the researchers stressed that as the planet continues to warm, East Africa will face more frequent heavy rainfall events, emphasizing the urgency of emissions reduction.
The study also highlighted the vulnerability of the population, citing a major role played by the three-year climate change-driven drought that left communities grappling with livestock deaths, crop failures, and food insecurity. The prolonged hardship from the drought made it challenging for many to cope with the subsequent devastating rainfall.
During the COP28 in Dubai last December, Sven Harmeling, Global Policy Lead at CARE Climate Justice Centre said high emitting countries needed to act on phasing out fossil fuels as the poorest communities in the world were paying for those actions with their lives.
“Wealthy and high emitting countries must take urgent action to phase out fossil fuels. They have reaped the rewards of oil, gas and coal expansion while people living in the poorest communities in the world are paying with their lives,” said Harmeling.
“Sadly, developing countries have not yet seen the delivery of support required to confront the climate crisis. They are being asked to pick up much of the bill for the climate crisis.”
Researchers from the World Weather Attribution group urged immediate action, emphasizing that the increasing risks from extreme weather events could overwhelm the capacity of governments and humanitarian organizations in East Africa.
They called for comprehensive planning and a review of existing response strategies to address the escalating impacts of climate change.
Friederike Otto, a Senior Lecturer in Climate Science at the Grantham Institute – Climate Change and the Environment, Imperial College London, worried that after 27 COP summits, (now 28), time was fast-running and there was no time for vague promises and agreements. Point blank, he emphasized that fossil fuels needed to be phased out.
“If the world does not agree on a fossil fuel phase out, floods and droughts like these ones will become even more severe, more people will die, and the finance to pay for the losses and damages won’t ever be enough,” Otto said.
“A failure to phase out fossil fuels at COP28 will put thousands more people onto the frontline of climate change in Africa,” added Otto. “After 27 COP summits, we simply don’t have time for vague promises and agreements. We need fossil fuel phase out.”
This story was produced with support from MESHA and IDRC Eastern and Southern Africa Office.
in picture: Eloise Todd, Pandemic Action Network Executive Director
