Africa Demands Compensation for Environmental Degradation

Africa will demand $67 billion a year in environmental damages from developed countries at the upcoming UN climate summit in December.

A group of African leaders met at the African Union (AU) Headquarters in Addis Ababa last Monday to iron out issues on how Africa should seek the compensation during the conference in Copenhagen.

Their recommendations seek to commit developed countries to paying 0.5 per cent of their GDP for ‘Climate Action’ in poorer countries.

"It has to be an amount significant enough to lead to rapid, sustainable development and industrialization of developing countries, in particular Africa, " AFP quoted Sudan's deputy UN representative Lumumba Di-Aping saying.

The AU’s Economy and Agriculture Commissioner Rhoda Tumusiime reiterated that Africa is one of main casualties of global warming despite being one of the least producers of carbon emissions.[ES]