“STORMS COST LIVES – BUT SO DO BLACKOUTS” A plea for early warning systems to protect energy infrastructure and vulnerable populations By Howard Hudson, OPEC Fund
OPEC Fund Quarterly : The UN says everyone should be protected by early warning systems by 2027. Following the havoc caused by Cyclones Idai and Ana in the last few years, what is your message to the international community – to UN agencies, governments and development banks? Ibrahim Matola: Early warning systems are absolutely essential for disaster management as they help governments to adequately foresee potential disasters, plan accordingly and safeguard their people. Here in Malawi I’m confident that we wouldn’t be in the present situation if this system had been in place. For example, when Cyclone Ana knocked out the Kapichira hydroelectric power station we lost 130 MW of capacity, leaving us with persistent blackouts. People lost businesses that rely on electricity – because energy is the driver of the economy. But it goes much further than that. You can’t talk about healthcare without
M any people think of climate change as a ticking time bomb. Dangerous, but not about to explode any time soon; one that we’ll probably defuse through advanced technology. So great is our hubris. Unfortunately, that view is not only wishful thinking but a really simplistic metaphor. Climate change is more a series of shock waves already crashing over us, building up to what may well become an apocalyptic crescendo. Think that’s overblown? According to a 2021 UN report, there’s been a climate-related disaster every day on average for the last 50 years somewhere around the world, killing well over 100 people and causing more than US$200 million in damage every single day for half a century. Not all these disasters can be attributed to climate change, but the proportion is clearly rising, according to UN research cited at the highest levels. One protective measure would be to install a global network of “multi- hazard early warning systems” – mainly for tracking tropical cyclones, also known as hurricanes in the
west and typhoons in the east. Such a global system is long overdue because more than 2.5 billion people, one-third of the world’s population, are still not covered. Most live in small island developing states and least developed countries; across Africa alone, 850 million people, 60 percent of the continental population, remain exposed to deadly storms. “This is unacceptable,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres in March 2022, “particularly with climate impacts sure to get even worse. Early warnings and action save lives. To that end, today I announce the United Nations will spearhead new action to ensure every person on Earth is
protected by early warning systems within five years.” That was the backdrop to an interview with Ibrahim Matola (right), Malawi’s Minister of Energy, ahead
of the COP27 Climate Change Conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
energy, as people depend a lot on supporting machines. Whether women in labor
going into operating theaters or babies in incubators, persistent blackouts cost lives.
Ibrahim Matola, Minister of Energy, Malawi
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