Climate Change and African Development

Abstract

Climate change poses the most significant threat to the development of humankind and the earth as a whole (Boyd et al. 2009). As Kofi Annan commented recently, “the speed and scale of climate change is making the traditional knowledge of when to plant and when to harvest, passed down through generations, much less accurate than in the past.”² Scientific evidence as a whole remains clear: the earth has experienced an average of 0.76°C temperature rise already in the twentieth century, with some effects already noticeable (IPCC 2007a). Climate change itself, defined as any form of climatic inconstancy, has occurred over many millennia (see Box 5.1 for definitions of climate, climate variability and climate change). However, human-induced increases in emissions of carbon dioxide and related gases since the later nineteenth century have made climate change more than just a natural phenomenon. The impacts of a changing climate on Africa and its development are the focus of this chapter. Highly increased rates of change have been recorded, carrying the potential for significant impacts on current and future world populations and environments.

Chinwe Ifejika Speranza acknowledges support from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) under its flagship project ‘Climate Change and Development’ and the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research North-South Programme’s ‘Research Partnerships for Mitigating Syndromes of Global Change’. The authors are grateful to Marisa Goulden, Babatunde Abiodun and Erik Lundsgaarde for their helpful comments.