Climate Change and Climate Disasters in South Sudan
Ayuen Dot
By Philip Ayuen Dot, juba- South Sudan
Tuesday, November 16, 2021 (PW) — As the 2021 United Nations climate change conference, COP26 comes to an end, African countries go home a disappointed a lot. Having contributed the least emissions, they bear the brunt of climate change effects, losses and damages. Furthermore, most of these nations are not developed and thus not in a position to mitigate themselves against effects such as wanton floods, increased droughts and famines, increased incidences of pest and diseases, desertification and the psychological effects of living in an environment that is degrading as the years go by.
South Sudan is one of the top five most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change effects. Due to this, it was one of the countries hoping that developed countries who are majorly responsible for the current climate crisis, would keep their end of the bargain and reduce emissions while fulfilling their pledges. But even as they haggle and promise future workshops and conferences, climate change in the country is not waiting for those future pledges. Its effects are on-going and the population more vulnerable than ever.
One of the major destructive effects of climate change in South Sudan has been the damage to infrastructure. As the previous floods have done, they have carried away roads under construction while facilities such as Juba International Airport have been submerged in water. This adds an extra cost to the government to repair these facilities. And thus eats into money that would have been used to make new roads and improve existing airports, also climate condition has caused immense suffering, including environmental degradation, and food insecurity, Climate changes is therefore South Sudan number one threat to our lives.
Another effect has been the displacement of human beings. Climate refugees though a new concept globally is already alive in South Sudan. This is where people are displaced by the effects of climate change such as floods and the fight for environmental resources. The displacement of people causes congestion in the areas they move to and thus increasing conflict between those who have arrived being chased by floods and other climate change related issues, and the locals they find in the new areas. Furthermore this causes a stress to the government as it has to allocate funds for the displaced people.The displacement itself also hinders development because schools, hospitals and other infrastructure is abandoned or not seen as necessary in places with constant floods.
Floods have become an annual event in the country. Each time, they displace hundreds of thousands of people. Whereas previously floods used to come every once in a few years, they are now more frequent with barely a year passing before parts of the country are under large volumes of water. Furthermore the duration of those floods has increased. This is disastrous to the citizens as floods cause an increase in water borne diseases such as cholera. Floods have also reduced the country’s agricultural input making a lot of people resort to charcoal burning and other destructive activities to earn a living.
Another effect of climate change is that it has affected people’s livelihoods. 95% of the people in the country depend on climate related activities such as agriculture, forestry and fishery. When it floods crops get carried away, forests are submerged in water. During the dry weather rivers dry up, forests become a source of conflict as everyone turns to them to earn a living while fishing becomes impossible. So in either of the extremes, the people of South Sudan are negatively affected.
The economy has suffered negatively as a result of climate change. Trade has been thoroughly hampered by climate change effects like diseases, frequent floods, increased droughts, broken down infrastructure and reduced agricultural production. This deals a huge blow to the country’s budget, thus reducing the amount of money the government has, that it would have used to bring services such as healthcare to the people.
And as people’s livelihoods have been destroyed by climate change, they have turned to natural resources to find a way to feed their families. This includes charcoal burning, hunting wild animals and cutting down trees for sale. This has thus compounded matters as it reduced the country’s ability to mitigate climate change. Furthermore it has reduced the country’s adaptability to climate change and things like soil erosion increase thus further reducing agricultural productivity. And thus it has become a vicious cycle.
So what do we do? It is clear that if South Sudan is to wait for conferences like COP26 to solve the climate crisis, we shall be waiting for a long time on unguaranteed help. So it is up to the Government of South Sudan and its citizens to try and finds ways of alleviating the climate crisis in the country.
One of the ways to do this is by enacting and passing the Environmental Protection and Management Bill into Law. This will go a long way into regulating the environmental sector in the country that involves major dockets such as forestry that are key in mitigating climate change. It will also bring structure and clear procedures of what is to be done on climate change thus making it easier for the country to partner with international climate change agencies that might be of help.
The government should also allocate adequate funds to climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. These involves purchasing meteorological equipment so as to be able to warn communities when floods are approaching, reforestation and afforestation, creating awareness and strengthening preparedness of communities, setting aside disaster preparedness budget for when climate disasters hit the country. And all these are issues that South Sudan Environmental Advocates (SSEA) is well equipped to partner with the government and other partners about. It has the expertise and the plans on how South Sudan can adapt to climate change.
The author is the Founder and Executive director of South Sudan environmental Advocates (SSEA) and can be reach via his email: Philipdot57@gmail.com or Tel: +211922104999 Web: www.sseasouthsudan.org
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