06/05/2008 :: Climate change and climate variability will have far reaching impacts on Africa’s development unless the continent takes measures to adapt to the phenomenonand makes risk management against climate change a development priority. This was one of the core themes that ran through the fi rst Senior Policy Seminar organized by the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC). The seminar, the tenth annual AERC workshop, was held in Addis Ababa at the UN Conference Centre 7-9 April 2008 under the theme: Climate Change and Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa. Ministers and senior government offi cials from relevant sectoral ministries across Africa as well as scholars, academics, UN organizations and other stakeholders took part. Research organizations that took part included Columbia University’s International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), the Austria based International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (whose Dr. Mahendra M. Shah made a presentation), and the Climate Change Adaptation in Africa (CCAA) project. The UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) Food Security and Sustainable Development Division (FSSDD) facilitated and hosted the workshop. In her keynote address on behalf of Mr. Abdoulie Janneh, Ms. Lalla Ben-Barka the UNECA Deputy Executive Secretary said Africa’s low adaptive capacity vis-à-vis climate change threatens its achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Climate sensitive sectors such as agriculture, forestry, fi sheries and tourism are endangered by the phenomenon. Agriculture, she noted, is especially at risk given African farmers’ traditional dependence on rain-fed agriculture. Indeed, models show agricultural output declines for arable land in marginal areas. Quoting the UNEP/WMO Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), she said projections exhibit “reduction of yields from rain-fed agriculture by up to 50 per cent in many African countries. One foreseeable consequence of climate-induced disaster is rapid migration that “could spark violent conflicts for access to and control of key resources such as land and water within the continent”. The well being of African states therefore depends on their ability to capitalize on existing and future global mechanisms for funding and technology transfer, such as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), the Climate Change Adaptation Fund that is being set up at the Global Environment Facility (GEF), and financing options such as carbon trading.
African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC)
Regarding UNECA’s contribution, Ms. Ben-Barka drew attention to the Commission’s close collaboration with the African Union and African Development Bank on up-scaling climate-related services and risk management through their joint Climate for Development in Africa (ClimDev Africa). More recently UNECA recently teamed up with the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) of India to establish an African Climate Policy Center aimed at building Africa’s capacity to mainstream climate change mitigation and adaption policies. It will also equip African negotiators with the tools they need to better reflect Africa’s interests in climate change in negotiations over the future Kyoto targets.
Policy changes and measures to deal with climate change threats
Inappropriate policy choices can exacerbate expected impacts of climate change on Africa. Already climate change is having a visible impact on the continent; for example the rate of retreat of the glacier on Mt. Kilimanjaro indicates that its ice cap could disappear in the next 40-50 years, with implications for water availability in the surrounding areas. This was among the remarks made by Prof. William Lyakurwa, AERC Executive Director, in his introductory comments. Mr. Louis Kasekende, African Development Bank (AfDB) Chief Economist also added his voice to panelists at the opening session. He said African states should be cognizant of climate change and afford it the attention it demands. He added that Africa lacks and therefore needs international support to implement its relevant conventions and actions. He estimated these interventions would cost an estimated 2-7 billion USD. As for the AfDB Mr. Kasekende stated that the bank has opted to mainstream adaptation and sustainable development all through its activities. During the three day conference, participants debated around four presentations examining different aspects of climate change’s impact: (a) economic growth (b) food security and sustainable (c) trade and competitiveness and (d) economic development in sub-Saharan Africa.
From: UNEP's Highlights Addis Ababa