Background

The threats that climate change poses to African development are well-documented: though climate changes impacts are global, Africa will bear the brunt of them. Current and future risks to the continent include increases in average temperatures, varying rainfalls, and the occurrence of extreme events, such as droughts and flood. These climate change risks come in addition to, and are likely to compound, existing socio-economic development challenges.

The economies of many African countries are reliant on climate-sensitive sectors such as rain-fed agriculture, fisheries, natural resources, and tourism. As a consequence, climate change can have severe effects on employment, poverty, and macroeconomic growth. Africa’s extreme vulnerability is aggravated by multiple biophysical and developmental stresses coupled with low adaptive capacity; in other words, the African continent has a disproportionate high amount of climate change problems for disproportionately low resources to deal with them.

As the 2007 UNDP Human Development Report illustrated, extreme events can lock people into a downward cycle of poverty. Illustrating this is the fact that many African countries are struggling to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

UNDP’s experience to date with ongoing adaptation initiatives has pointed to a number of important lessons:

1) Long-term planning tools to cope with the inherent uncertainties of climate change are lacking. Traditional development planning tools were not designed to face climate change uncertainties. As a result, countries suffer from the lack of long-term investment planning instruments that would identify and reduce risks.

2) Leadership and institutions to guide integrated and comprehensive adaptation approaches are needed to solve climate change. Champions with the necessary respect and authority to motivate action should be encouraged. In addition, to respond to climate change effectively and implement a broad vision, countries need strong institutions.

3) An appropriate mix of adaptation strategies, policies and measures need to be implemented. Climate change risks should be incorporated into development strategies and national policy frameworks.

4) Financing options to sustain and scale-up adaptation must be made available. Financial resources beyond development assistance need to be identified to support adaptation. In addition, investment plans must be climate-resilient; that is, they must take account of the costs of adaptation and climate change risks.

5) Knowledge on managing climate change risks/opportunities must be strengthened through training, building networks of practitioners, developing partnership and communications, and sharing lessons learned from completed initiatives.

In summary, climate change poses a serious challenge to socio-economic development and poverty reduction in developing countries. Climate change adaptation needs to be brought into the design, implementation, and delivery of socio-economic policies, development projects, and international aid efforts.