ケニアの茶産業、気候変動で壊滅的打撃か　分析

【パリＡＦＰ＝時事】世界最大の紅茶輸出国であるケニアの茶産業が、気候変動に伴う気温の上昇、不規則な降雨パターン、虫害などにより壊滅の危機に直面しているとの報告書が発表された。（写真はケニア・ケリチョの茶農園で、早朝から茶摘みに出る人々）
　お茶は、水の次に世界で最も多く飲まれている飲料。ケニアの輸出量が低下すれば、世界に影響が広がることが予想される。
　国際援助団体「クリスチャン・エイド」は１０日に発表した報告書で、ケニアの主要作物である茶の収穫量を脅かすさまざまな要因や、温暖化の進行に伴って他の茶生産国が直面する恐れのある危機について分析し、まとめた。
　報告書は査読済み論文を引用しつつ、「気温の上昇」「不規則な降雨パターン」「干ばつ」「新たな害虫の大発生」という四つの脅威が重なることで、ケニア国内では２０５０年までに最高品質の茶葉の生産地の２６．２％が壊滅的な打撃を受け、中等品質の茶葉の生産地も４０％近く減少すると指摘している。
　報告書はまた、ケニアの茶産業に携わる３００万人以上の雇用が、今後２０年間で失われる恐れがあると警告している。
　今年１１月に開催予定の国連（ＵＮ）気候変動枠組み条約第２６回締約国会議（ＣＯＰ２６）について、気候およびエネルギーに関して提言を行うシンクタンク「パワーシフト・アフリカ」のディレクターは、すでに気候変動に対応せざるを得なくなっている貧しい国々に対して、より豊かな国々が適切な支援をするための重要な機会になると語った。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/05/18-13:49）

Climate change is set to devastate Kenya's tea production as the world's largest exporter faces rising temperatures, erratic rainfall and insect infestations, according to analysis released on Monday.
Tea is the world's most consumed drink after water and disruption in supply from the east African nation is predicted to have a global impact.
A report from the charity Christian Aid outlined the various threats Kenya faces to its key black tea crop, as well as the dangers that other countries are likely to encounter as the planet continues to warm.
Citing a peer-reviewed study, the report said that the quadruple threat of rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, droughts and new insect infestations are forecast to destroy 26.2 percent of the country's optimal tea growing areas by 2050.
And climate change is expected to reduce the areas with medium quality growing conditions by nearly 40 percent in the same time frame.
For generations we have carefully cultivated our tea farms and we are proud that the tea that we grow here is the best in the world, said Richard Koskei, a tea farmer from Kenya's western highlands.
But climate change poses a real threat to us. We cannot predict seasons anymore, temperatures are rising, and rainfall is more erratic.
Karimi Kinoti, head of Christian Aid's Africa division, said tea was just another example of how people living in countries least responsible for the climate crisis are bearing the heaviest burden.
Africans make up 17 percent of the world's population but we generate just four percent of the greenhouse gas emissions that have caused the climate crisis, she said.
And yet it is we who are suffering the brunt of the impacts of climate change.
- 'World will be watching' -
The report warned that the livelihoods of more than three million people in Kenya's tea industry would come under threat in the next two decades.
Britain, the biggest per capita tea consumer, is set to host crunch UN climate talks in Glasgow in November.
Mohamed Adow, director of the Power Shift Africa climate and energy think tank, said the COP26 negotiations presented a vital opportunity for richer nations to provide proper support for poorer ones already having to adapt to climate change.
As a major historical polluter and the creator of the industrial revolution the UK has played a big part in the climate emergency which we Kenyans are suffering from, he said.
This year, as hosts of the G7 and COP26, the UK has a big role to play in tackling it.
The whole world will be watching, especially Kenyan tea farmers and other people on the front lines of the climate crisis, added Adow.