2 months before COP21 : Sustainable development issues in Sub-Saharan Africa

The 195 States participating to the COP21, held in Paris in December 2015, had to submit their greenhouse-gas emission reduction target. The vast majority of African countries have respected the deadline, set on October 1^st.

The cost of climate change for the continent

According to Marion Richard (Réseau action climat), the cost of climate change for African countries is estiumated between 7 to 15 billion dollars per year. Le Point Afrique has recently interviewed the Tosi Mpanu-Mpanu (member of the DRC Climate Task Force) on the subject: “Africa and its 1 billion people are only responsible for 3 to 4% of the global greenhouse-gas emissions. And yet, Africa is paying a high price: coastal erosion, disappearance of mangrove forests, erratic rainfall…”

As estimated by Dr. Hanne Knaepen (member of the Think Tank European Centre for Development Policy Management): “For Africa, agriculture and land use will be very important in the negotiations to ensure food security and economic growth, implying a strong need for adapting to the negative impacts of climate change, particularly for least developed countries.”  

A development opportunity for African countries ?

Africa should not stand as a victim on these issues, says Tosi Mpanu-Mpanu: “one of the biggest challenges here is to transform climate change issues into an opportunity of development for the continent. The COP21 should give us the means to adapt ourselves to the situation. Sub-Saharan Africa has a great potential in terms of renewable energy.”

One of the key issue at stake for the negotiations to come is how the financing resources will be shared among the countries. Most of the African countries have mentionned a ''conditionnal commitment" to their projects, depending on international aid.

Find out more on the subject

Osman-Elasha, B. "Impacts des changements climatiques, adaptation et liens avec le développement durable en Afrique.", FAO, octobre 2015

"COP21 : Ce qu'il faut savoir des engagements africains pour le climat’’, Jeune Afrique, octobre 2015

"COP 21 : Que révèlent les contributions nationales africaines ?’’, RFI, août 2015

"COP21 : Quatre nouveaux pays africains ont annoncé leurs plans de réduction de gaz à effet de serre", Jeune Afrique, août 2015

"L'Afrique sera motrice de son propre développement durable ! ", Ideas for Development, février 2015

"COP21 - Fatima Denton : « Le Fonds vert de l'ONU pour le Climat n'est pas suffisant » ", Jeune Afrique, Septembre 2015

"Africa: High Stakes for the EU and Africa - Cop21 Position", AllAfrica.com, septembre 2015

Cochran, Ian, and Romain Morel, "Sur la Route des 100 Milliards de Dollars pour le climat?",  Le Huffington Post, octobre 2015

To check the projects submitted country by country : INDC Submissions