By Imali Ngusale
Somalia is one of the least contributors to the global greenhouse gas emissions yet the country is most impacted. In an interview with the Africa News Science Hassan Mowlid Yasin, the Chief Executive Director of Somali Greenpeace Association reveals that Somalia only contributes less that 0.003% of the global carbon emission yet it has endured some of the most devastating impacts of climate change.
“Climate change has wrecked us exponentially has displaced more 2, 900, 000 Somalians since 2021, ” said Yasin.
Moreover the Somalia Disaster Management Agency (SoDMA) reported that more than one million Somalians were displaced and 110 killed in at least 36 districts due to human induced climate change. This adds to the already 1.9 million displaced across the country making the total number over 2.9 million.
“Last year alone, Somalia lost more than a million livestock,” added Yasin, ” Yet Somalia has never received any repatriations and is yet to receive the loss and damage funds.”
Yasin claims that the climate change in Somalia is human induced and is connected to the emissions from the global north industrialized countries including China and India. He says that there has been an intentional obstruction of discussing the loss and damage mechanisms since the Paris Agreement. This notwithstanding, Yassin believes that COP28 brings some sigh of hope.
“I am pleased that the COP 28 started by operationalizing and making pledges for the loss and damage funds. Initially we cried foul.” said Yassin, ” But we cannot tackle climate change with mere words, in Somali a we know what it means to encounter loss and damage.
While addressing a summit at COP 28 in Dubai, Yassin noted that , “We need the disbursement of loss and damage to be fast, fair and justice based because the children from Somalia do not have the luxury other children have. ”
Accordingly the UNOCHA reported that more than 2, 000, 000 children will not have access to clean water, food and quality education. The report also underscored that climate change also exacerbates in the community conflicts in Somalia.
Notably, human destruction is bound to escalate due to conflicts of resource depletion. Young people are bound to engage in armed conflict for survival and the repercussion could escalate from Somalia to other nation states.
This notwithstanding Yassin commits to engage the young people to bring solutions. He claims that young people are a panacea in Somalia and desperately need to be engaged.
Yassin also dedicated as a frontliner and advocate of climate justice. He believes that his contribution in the climate action space is one of the avenues that young people can strategically engage in policies and procedures to manage the impact of climate crisis.
Yassin also emphasized, “Young people need to enhance the adaptation capacity and resilience of the community. We must involve them and we must engage them”
“As a young person from Somalia, I will continue to proactively engage with my communities to ensure that our voices are heard and also interventions put in place to support us in coping with loss and damage,” said Yasin.
“I am grateful that institutions like the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) see the value of meaningfully engaging young people, ” added Yassin.
“Our communities can prevent and withstand the impact of climate crisis such the droughts and harmful floods if they are compensated in the loss and damage funds, ” lauded Yassin.
