26 African Development Bank — Advancing Climate Change Action and Green Growth in Africa including water-borne diseases, are estimated to cost the continent about 5% of its GDP per year. It has been found that inadequate access to water and sanitation increases COVID-19 infection rates. Therefore, the issue of water management and sanitation is crucial to reducing the spread of COVID-19 and the transmission of infectious diseases more generally. Furthermore, COVID-19 mitigation measures require access to clean water and sanitation, especially for hand washing. Thus, the COVID-19 crisis has once again underlined that universal access to water and sanitation should be a key public health priority. Climate action and greenhouse gas emissions The analysis by SDGCA & SDSN (2019) shows good progress towards SDG 13 (climate action) in Africa. Since the SDG 13 indicators capture outcomes and not policies and measures themselves, SDG 13 results are closely linked to progress made towards related goals, such as SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy) and SDG 15 (protecting and restoring land resources and ecosystems). The continent remains a low emitter, generating just 2–3% of global GHG emissions from energy and industry. Per capita GHG emissions in most African countries also remain well below the global average of ~5 tonnes (in 2014). If greener growth approaches are not pursued, the emissions of most of Africa’s countries are likely to rise rapidly as urbanisation continues and their populations and economies grow. As a result of the COVID-19 crisis, GHG emissions are forecast to have decreased 8% in 2020 compared to 2019 (GGGI, 2020). This decrease is mainly due to a drastic reduction in industrial activity and mobility, particularly air traffic. However, lessons learnt from the 2008–2009 global financial crisis show that economic recoveries are generally associated with an increase in emissions, offsetting the initial reduction. Climate change vulnerability Despite generating just 2–3% of global GHG emissions, Africa is already, and will continue to be, disproportionately impacted by the negative impacts of climate change. The Notre Dame- Global Adaptation Index (ND-GAIN) 10val PAYG off-grid solar power solution players by country (2013-17) and geographic share of PAYG market (% cumulative unit sales) Source: GOGLA, 2018). 86% West Africa East Africa Asia 12% 2% 1–2 suppliers 3–5 suppliers 5+ suppliers
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