Regional high-level experts and decision-makers met in Addis Ababa on 24 October 2013 to identify new policy approaches to address the challenges from climate change to Africa, in particular regarding food, energy, water and migration. The policy dialogue took place at the United Nations Conference Centre, Addis Ababa (UNCC-AA) and was jointly organised by the Berlin-based international think-tank adelphi, the African Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and the African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC), in cooperation with and supported by the German Federal Foreign Office and the German Embassy in Addis Ababa.
“Africa’s climate is changing; the continent is getting warmer, with serious environmental and socio-economic consequences,” said Alfred Omenya, Associate Professor at the Technical University Kenya. The impacts of climate change on the African continent will be significant and widespread. More variable precipitation levels, increased temperatures and severe droughts, floods and other natural disasters are forecast for vast sub-regions in the continent. This will have enormous implications for water, food and energy security and affect trade and agriculture. Climate change is therefore one of the biggest challenges, threatening to destabilize countries with low adaptation capacities and to compromise advances in safeguarding human security.
In response to the challenges identified, new ways to integrate climate change into national, regional and international policies were discussed. Important recommendations that were developed include:
• the enhancement of knowledge and reliable data necessary to understand and predict climate change impacts on resource security in the region,
• awareness raising, knowledge and capacity building at the level of governments, institutions and populations,
• the strengthening of regional conflict resolution mechanisms and early warning systems (e.g. through the building and strengthening of transboundary river management commissions.
Participants agreed that climate change has an impact on global economic development and human well-being, emphasizing the necessity for a new profile of Climate Diplomacy. Diplomatic efforts in this context can create enabling conditions, build confidence and support negotiations. Instruments should include enhanced development cooperation, conflict prevention, humanitarian assistance, and targeted financial support for climate change adaptation and mitigation.
Water is a matter of survival and plays a critical role in social, economic and environmental activities as well. With a rise in global demand for water, water crises have consistently featured among the World Economic Forum’s top global impact risks. Water insecurity, i.e., the lack of water availability for basic human needs and socio-economic development, undermines billions of livelihoods and poses significant risks for peace and prosperity by thwarting progress and fuelling displacement and conflict.
Limited access to energy is a significant barrier to development and holds back efforts to improve living conditions in developing and emerging economies. Around the world, 1.1 billion people still do not have access to electricity, and 2.8 billion still rely on animal and crop waste, wood, charcoal and other solid fuels to cook their food and heat their homes.
As the earth’s climate warms, people face mounting threats from rising seas, and more intense and frequent storms, heatwaves, fires, and droughts. When these events hit, people want to understand whether they are connected to climate change. Linking climate change with heatwaves, storms and other events can help us prepare for a changing world, argues Peter Stott.
A recent report by the UNEP focuses on addressing trade in wildlife and forest products across the three sectors of crime prevention and criminal justice, trade regulation and natural resource management. It finds that there is less focus on the legislative means for preventing offenses related to trade in wildlife and forest products and more attention on the means for detecting and punishing such offenses.