Morocco’s King Mohammed VI has predicted that 60 million people in Africa will be displaced by 2020 as a result of climate change. The king made his remarks during the opening of the Africa Action Summit organised on the fringe of the 22nd Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP22).

The Moroccan monarch said that Africa is the most affected by climate change, although it is responsible for only four per cent of greenhouse gas emissions. “The African continent is paying a heavy price in the climate equation,” he pointed out.

According to the king, as many as 10 million people have been displaced in Africa already. He warned that nearly 60 million people will be displaced due to the scarcity of water by 2020, unless the necessary measures are taken. “Rising temperatures, shifting seasons and successive droughts are depleting the biodiversity of our continent, destroying ecosystems and jeopardising Africa’s progress, security and stability.”

COP22 was inaugurated in Marrakech by King Mohammed and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday.