The President of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, urged the world to work together to tackle the effects of climate change in his speech at the 6th Round of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Nairobi, Kenya.
He said that Somalia was one of the most affected countries by climate change, having suffered from a four-year drought and extreme heat waves. He warned that climate change posed a serious threat to people’s lives and livelihoods, especially in the Horn of Africa.
He also highlighted the opportunities that Somalia’s natural resources, such as its sea, land and wildlife, could offer for employment, production, green energy and economic growth, if managed well and protected. He said that his government was committed to environmental protection and had enacted laws and plans to address the challenges of climate change. He mentioned the ban on plastic bags and the reforestation program as examples of Somalia’s efforts to preserve its environment.
He appealed to the other countries participating in the conference to come up with cooperative and equitable solutions to deal with the problems of climate change, saying that it was a global responsibility that required global action.
The UNEA-6 conference is the highest-level decision-making body on environmental matters in the United Nations. It brings together representatives from 193 member states, as well as civil society, private sector, and other stakeholders. The theme of the conference is “Effective, inclusive and sustainable multilateral actions to tackle climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution”. The conference aims to address the triple planetary crisis and its impacts on human well-being and development.
