For many communities across the continent, the climate threat is already existential. Vast swaths of Africa are becoming uninhabitable, and immense reserves of natural wealth – tropical forests, arable lands, freshwater ecosystems, and coastlines – are being degraded. This is a grave injustice. Africa is suffering the most from a problem that it did the least to cause. Worse, in the run-up to the COP27 climate conference, Africa’s specific challenges – as well as the continent’s potential to contribute to a low-carbon future – have been overlooked in global climate discussions.
The current global climate agenda is failing Africa’s people by focusing on emissions reductions above all else. This obsession with mitigation ignores Africa’s pressing need for adaptation financing and “loss and damage” compensation. Moreover, global commitments to phase out international fossil-fuel financing threaten to obstruct Africa’s own industrialization efforts. If the international community continues to discount Africa’s interests, it risks condemning 1.4 billion people to economic underdevelopment and the political instability that comes with it.
That is why COP27 was so important. The summit was an opportunity to shape an inclusive climate agenda that accounts for Africa’s specific context, while also supporting globally endorsed development goals and leveraging the continent’s strength as a source of climate-change solutions. How can this be achieved? First, the rest of the world – particularly the Global North – must acknowledge Africa’s specific vulnerabilities. Africa is incurring disproportionately larger costs from climate change not just because of bad luck but also because it suffers from many pre-existing vulnerabilities, including poverty, food insecurity, displaced populations, and armed conflicts. Together, these problems create a vicious cycle in which a lack of resilience makes the impact of climate-driven crises even more severe, further eroding the systems and infrastructure needed to manage the problem. Sub-Saharan Africa is a case in point. Mo Ibrahim Foundation research shows that without urgent action to address climate change, an additional 40 million people in the region could be pushed into extreme poverty by 2030, and more than 85 million people could be physically displaced by 2050 – more than in any other region of the world. Investments in early-warning systems, disaster risk reduction, resilient infrastructure, and sustainable urbanization must be high priorities. But if world leaders continue to discount Africa’s pre-existing vulnerabilities, adequate financing and support for climate adaptation will remain a pipedream.
Moreover, there can be no climate justice without energy justice. More than 600 million people in Africa still lack access to electricity. Inclusive global climate discussions must acknowledge African people’s right to energy. So far, this has not happened. And the “landmark deal” to end all international fossil-fuel financing by the end of this year, concluded by 39 governments and financial institutions at COP26 last year, runs counter to it.
As is so often the case, the Global North has been applying a double standard. While Africa is being discouraged from using its own energy resources to pursue industrialization, many signatories to the COP26 agreement continue to expand fossil-fuel use at home. To redress this injustice, there needs to be a better balance between net-zero emissions goals, energy access, and energy security.
A Guest Editorial