ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Africa shouldn’t have to beg for help in addressing climate change, the president of the African Development Bank said Tuesday, adding that polluting global powers “have to pay.”Akinwumi Adesina told The Associated Press in an interview on the sidelines of the African Union summit that the financing promised to African countries to cope with the consequences of climate change “needs to be put on the table.”Africa’s more than 1.2 billion people stand to suffer the most from global warming while contributing to it the least. The region is also the least equipped to deal with its effects, according to experts. Parts of Africa are warming at a faster pace than elsewhere, and climate experts have said warming Indian Ocean waters have contributed to more powerful cyclones and the worst locust outbreak in decades in East Africa. African heads of state are increasingly blunt about the dangers ahead and the need for the rest of the world, including top polluters such as China and the United States, to step up and contribute to Africa’s efforts to adapt.

Source: International New York Times February 11, 2020 11:37 UTC