Climate risks affecting rice production in Southeast Asia would cascade to the African continent, where countries like Senegal depend on Asia for their rice imports. Photo: Aldo Pavan / Getty Images.
Adaptation plans the world over are built on national vulnerability and risk assessments and are defined and developed in relative isolation from one another. Very few address the transboundary and cascading nature of climate risk.
In recognizing transboundary climate risks and the need for enhanced climate cooperation, Africa’s Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) represents a step-change in our thinking about adaptation.
How do international and cascading climate risks impact Africa?
How can governments build resilience to them, and what role can the regional economic communities play in addressing and managing international and cascading climate risks?
What opportunities exist, including COP27, that can and must be harnessed to strengthen regional and global cooperation on adaptation to manage such risks?
These are the critical questions that now need answering and which will form the basis of a highly engaging event on Tuesday, 13 September, at the African Ministerial Conference for the Environment, AMCEN 2022. The event will form a key milestone in a longer-term strategy to strengthen Africa’s resilience to cascading and transboundary climate risk.
Speakers
- Madeleine Diouf Sarr, Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, Senegal, and chair of the LDC Group
- Harsen Nyambe, African Union Commission
- Katy Harris, Adaptation Without Borders
- Hanne Knaepen, European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM)
- Richard Munang, UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Africa Office
- Emmanuel Seck, Enda Energie
- Kwame Ababio, African Union Development Agency
Closing remarks by Ayman Cherkaoui, Ambassador of Adaptation Without Borders
Facilitation by Philip Osano, SEI Africa Centre Director
