IPCC: LDCs most vulnerable

Published: 01 December, 2008

ENVIRONMENT

The world’s less developed countries are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change, according to Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Speaking at the opening ceremony of a United Nations conference in Poznan, Poland in December 2008, Mr Pachauri said, “the differential nature of climate change impacts and the existence of other stresses leave the poor of the world particularly vulnerable.” Citing an IPCC report, he said that rain-fed agriculture yield in some African countries could be reduced by 50 percent by 2020.

Mr Pachauri also called for “determination and a sense of urgency” in dealing with climate change, saying that “the record of global action at mitigation has been very weak.”

His comments echo the findings of a report released by the United Nations and the African Union last June. It lists climate change as an obstacle to meeting African Millennium Development Goals, describing African countries as being particularly vulnerable, saying that: “Precipitation patterns are changing, crops are reaching the upper limits of heat tolerance, and pastoralists spend more time than before in search of water and grazing grounds.”

The report says that urgent investment is needed to “climate proof” water management for agriculture, develop new production systems, promote drought and high temperature-tolerant crops, and improve social safety nets for smallholder farmers.

CarboAfrica, an international research project that includes the European Commission and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, estimate that Africa contributes less than 4 percent of global Green House Gas emission from fossil fuels. Even when emissions from natural sources, such as forest fires, are considered, the continent may be taking more carbon out of the atmosphere than it puts in.

The World Bank estimates that Clean Development Mechanism Projects in sub-Saharan Africa could amount to 740m tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year.

Efforts are underway to unlock this potential though the Nairobi Framework. Adopted in 2006 and launched by then Secretary-General of the UN, Kofi Annan, the initiative is intended to help developing countries, particularly those in sub-Saharan Africa, to increase their participation in CDM projects.

In 2007 a joint UN Development Programme and UN Environment Programme CDM capacity development project was launched, covering Ethiopia, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia. However, such projects have been slow to get off the ground. As of November 2008 there were only 28 registered CDM projects in seven African countries.

TIA leaders report: Banking 2010
Over the course of the past quarter, This is Africa has been speaking with senior figures in the banking industry across the continent, as well as to some of the sector’s leading analysts and investors. No two banks are the same, but across almost all TIA’s conversations, three key themes emerged:
Mobile money goes mainstream
When Vodafone launched the M-Pesa mobile money transfer service through its subsidiary Safaricom in Kenya in February 2007, few could have predicted its success. Originally developed with funding by the UK’s Department for International Development, it has quickly outgrown its development roots. By April of this year the service had 9.5m active users and accounted for approximately $330m worth of person-to-person transactions.
Indian demand fuels African cashew trade
West Africa is developing into an increasingly significant producer and processor of cashew nuts, feeding into lucrative markets in India
Nurturing innovation
The Nile Exchange is one of a number of initiatives designed to provide a boost to Egypt’s small- and medium-sized enterprises but these are just a small step on the difficult path towards creating a culture of entrepreneurship in the region
Regional integration There is a renewed sense of optimism surrounding regional integration in Africa, as the continent’s governments increasingly turn to the private sector as the main driver of economic growth

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