The momentum for global climate action is accelerating. Despite having contributed only a fraction of total emissions, African countries stand to be disproportionately impacted by its effects. Furthermore, the race to net-zero will affect the market for natural resources, financial flows and clean energy technologies in Africa.
The Africa Program’s Climate Change work examines the intersection of global decarbonization policies and innovations with Africa’s economic development priorities. We focus on Africa’s efforts to address energy poverty, achieve economic diversification, manage a new scramble for climate minerals, and finance a just transition to a low carbon future.
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A conversation about the negotiations at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference.
A more inclusive cross-section of researchers would help ensure that the direction and volume of climate research is truly representative of diverse perspectives and priorities and would make the output more likely to yield feasible policy solutions.
The European Union has an ambitious trillion dollar plan to slash emissions by over 50 percent from 1990 levels by 2030. This can present opportunities to African countries, but also potential threats, like possibly locking African farmers out of EU markets.
The European Green Deal is mainly a collection of internal EU policy instruments, yet its potential impacts will reach African countries. Such effects will be felt in the market for agriculture, fossil fuels, and other natural resources.
The European Green Deal provides a road map for the EU’s socioecological and economic transition to a low-carbon future. Its implications for Africa are multifaceted. Yet it offers the promise of overhauling EU-Africa relations if the right steps are taken now.
Advancing inclusive and equitable energy transitions is one of this century’s most vital global challenges, and one in which development finance will play a crucial role. References to justice and equity are widespread in international climate policy, and are increasingly being used by development organizations to guide their own work, including support for energy transitions.
America’s return to the Paris Climate Accord in January 2021 was a milestone in the global push for climate action.
Many African countries have placed economic diversification high on the policy agenda, yet they first need to define what it means in their specific structural and socioeconomic contexts.