Africa and Climate Change

Abstract

Africa is affected by climate change in multiple ways. Like other continents, its coastline is in danger of being flooded, and its islands are in danger of being inundated. Many people are forced by climate change to migrate, and this increases the flows of refugees moving both north towards the Mediterranean and south towards the Cape, seeking a viable homeland. It is in the interest of African countries to develop in ways that are climate-friendly. More electricity needs to be generated to enhance people’s quality of life, but this should be generated in environmentally friendly ways. Large schemes of tree-planting are also needed, to restore the forests of areas where they have been lost in civil conflicts (as in central and northern Ethiopia) and at the same time to sequestrate some of the carbon dioxide of the atmosphere. As well as mitigation, collaborative efforts are needed in the field of adaptation, so as to limit the impacts of climate change. Developing countries should assist such measures, but they should be adopted whether or not such assistance materialises.