Land Matters Podcast: Tackling African Heatwaves – Chatting with the Mayor of Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Land Matters Podcast: Confronting Extreme Heat in Africa: A Conversation with the Mayor of Freetown, Sierra Leone
Summary :
Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, the mayor of Freetown, Sierra Leone, has appointed Africa’s first chief heat officer in response to the impact of extreme heat, which causes more deaths than other visible climate disasters. Informal settlement residents are particularly vulnerable, as their corrugated iron homes effectively become ovens during hot weather. As a first step, the chief heat officer has launched the provision of shade covers for the city’s open-air markets. Aki-Sawyer highlighted the need to build resilience for current and future environmental impacts, providing an overview of the Transform Freetown campaign, including plans to plant a million trees. She also explained the importance of fiscal sustainability, outlining the overhaul of the city’s property tax assessment and collection system.
Description :
Land Matters Podcast: Confronting Extreme Heat in Africa: A Conversation with the Mayor of Freetown, Sierra Leone
Assessing all the climate threats that rain down on West Africa, the mayor of Freetown, Sierra Leone, Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, was convinced that extreme heat needed to be a top priority.
“There are more deaths from extreme heat than there are from the more visible and tangible disasters,” she said on the latest episode of the Land Matters podcast. “In our case, the vulnerable are mainly those living in informal settlements. That’s 35 percent of our city’s population, and in those informal settlements, the housing structures are typically made from corrugated iron. With increased temperatures, you’re effectively living in an oven.”
The concern led Aki-Sawyerr to appoint Africa’s first chief heat officer, with the support of the Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center. One of the first practical interventions was to provide shade covers at the city’s open-air markets, where primarily women sit in the sun for long hours.
In a wide-ranging interview, also available at Land Lines magazine as the latest installment of the Mayor’s Desk feature, Aki-Sawyerr said the aim is to build resilience for impacts being felt now, but also plan for long-range sustainability. She detailed the promise to plant a million trees and the planning initiative she launched after being elected in 2018, Transform Freetown.
Aki-Sawyerr, who previously served as head of the Freetown City Council, built her career as a finance professional. She was part of the campaign against blood diamonds and was instrumental in the response to the Ebola crisis in 2014. She has delivered two TED talks, including one about turning dissatisfaction into action. Named to the Time100 Next list of emerging leaders, she has been active in the C40 Cities global network
sources:
1- melk360.com ,Land Matters Podcast: Confronting Extreme Heat in Africa: A Conversation with the Mayor of Freetown, Sierra Leone ,2023-04-17 11:38:11
2- https://www.lincolninst.edu/publications/articles/land-matters-podcast-confronting-extreme-heat-in-africa-conversation-mayor?rand=516
