Climate Change Opportunities for Africa

2015 is a watershed moment for climate change. The Paris Climate Summit at the end of the year provides a focal point for international action. There is an expectation from Paris that developed countries, responsible for the lion’s share of the impact of climate change, will sign up to new targets to reduce emissions.

How can Africa draw on global support to develop forestry and land use practices that simultaneously benefit Africans and the global climate?

The signs are positive. The EU countries have committed to reducing emissions to 40 per cent below 1990 levels by 2030. In New York in September 2014, world leaders converged around a long-term vision that recognizes that climate change is a defining issue of our times, and agreed on the need to reduce emissions and build resilience. They also agreed that climate action should be integral to, and not separate from, efforts to eradicate extreme poverty and promote sustainable development. 

Crucially, there is widespread commitment to limiting global temperature rises to less than 2 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels, and all countries have been called upon to take national actions consistent with this goal. There is also growing momentum behind the message that global emissions must peak before 2020 and dramatically reduce after that, towards climate neutrality in the second half of the 21st century.

Africa has had no option but to adapt to the unprecedented effects of climate change, and there are many stories of how communities have ensured their livelihoods through creative and innovative adaptation.

President Mohammadu Buhari    Nigeria

However, adaptation is not a transformation strategy and Africa cannot adapt indefinitely. With global temperatures set to rise further, the impacts of climate change may exceed African capability to remain ahead of the curve. Unless the international community acts swiftly to mitigate the effects of climate change, these threats could undo recent progress in improving lives across the continent.

The UN Summit on Climate Change saw far-reaching commitments, notably from the business community. No region has done less to drive climate change than Africa – but no region faces greater risks from its effects. The 2015 Climate Summit is the critical moment for containing the risks. Prospects for millions today, and for future generations, depend on international action and effective national policies.

Kofi Annan      African Progress Report

While Africa need to reflect on the wider agenda, several opportunities present themselves. The run-up to the Paris summit is an obvious focal point.

Rich countries have emitted the lion’s share of greenhouse gases to date while Africa finds itself in a unique position: no region faces greater risks from the effects of climate change, yet Africa accounts for only 3 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

But if African countries seriously commit themselves now to renewable energy sources, such as hydro, geothermal and solar power, they could leapfrog as they have with mobile telephony – to bypass dependence on high-carbon fuels, influencing the world’s clean technology innovations as they do so.

The necessary transformations in energy, agriculture and climate change adaptation will only happen if Africa receives much more international financial support, mobilizes more domestic finance and repairs its financial architecture to attract more private investors.

African countries should prioritise development and increasing access to energy, then follow a process of using renewables to diversify and decarbonise the energy supply.

Women’s rights and needs should be at the core of an African approach to a global climate deal. Women carry a huge burden in African society and economic life: they form the majority of

smallholder farmers and carry primary responsibility for providing nourishment and childcare. This means they are affected most by climate change.

Climate change as an issue has very low visibility in many African countries, and that there is a lot of work to do to increase public awareness of the need for climate change mitigation and adaptation.

African climate change strategy should also seek to plug the continent’s large energy deficit. This deficit imposes huge costs on people, communities and economies. Two-thirds of Africans still have no access to electricity. Some 750 million people rely on biomass for their energy needs. This contributes to the deaths of 600,000 Africans a year from household air pollution, most of them women and children.

Based on the 2015 African Progress Report.