NO 69: Solutions to Global Warming in Africa

Solutions to Global Warming in Africa

Solutions to global warming in Africa include effective land use planning to avoid forest degradation, developing renewable energy, and limiting the expansion of coal-fired power plants.

Although the countries of Africa have some of the lowest overall and per capita global warming emissions on the planet, they are also likely to suffer from some of the worst consequences of climate change. These impacts may already be unfolding in the form of droughts, famine, desertification, and population displacement. In the context of high levels of poverty and malnutrition, the priority for many African countries is increasing access to energy services and improving the economic welfare of their people.

Africa, along with South America and Southeast Asia, has experienced a significant loss of forests in the past two decades. The Congo Basin Rainforest is the world's second largest tropical forest and spans 700,000 square miles in 6 countries. Fortunately, deforestation and forest degradation in the Congo Basin are historically low. New efforts are underway to ensure effective land use planning, balancing local subsistence needs with conservation.

By pioneering new renewable energy projects and establishing forward-thinking innovation centers, many countries in Africa are looking to renewable energy as a solution to meet their growing energy needs in a sustainable way, while working toward practical adaptation strategies to mitigate global warming impacts. Meeting these adaptation challenges is the responsibility not only of the African nations that are facing them, but also of developed countries that bear the historical responsibility for most global warming emissions. While progress is being made, much more needs to be done to address current and future development and energy needs on the African continent.

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