NEWSLETTER #41 - SOCIETY OF AFRICAN EARTH SCIENTISTS

Volume 10, Issue 4, October - December 2021

CONTENT

Chair's Foreword

COP26: Africa's Priorities and How the Continent Should Address Climate Change

Earth Science Events

References and selected reading

Chair's Foreword*

The final quarter of 2021 saw another active period of conference events of critical importance globally. These conferences included the UN Food Systems Summit in October 2021, which many scientists globally, did not attend in protest against the perceived control of the summit by industrial agribusiness interests as promoted though AGRA  (Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa) and its chair,  Agnes Kalibata, whose  appointment as  UN General Special Envoy to the summit  was seen as a conflict of interest and a move destined to sideline the voices of small farm holders, who make up the vast majority of food producers in Africa and other parts of the developing world, and alternatives to industrial agriculture, such as agroecology.  This action was supported by various African based civil society organisations, including AFSA (Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa)  and its partners.

   October also featured, of course, the Conference of the Parties (COP) 26th annual climate summit, held in Glasgow, UK, which overall was a disappointment. The total pledges of carbon reduction agreed only allows the world to achieve a 1.8 degrees centigrade cap on global temperature rise compared with the set target of 1.5 degrees. However, there were some positives to take from COP26, such as the reduction in climate scepticism, the increased engagement of the youth in climate action, the commitment  to end the burning of coal, 100 nations agreeing to phaseout methane - a very potent greenhouse gas - and the agreement of the US and China to cooperate.

  For Africa, the key  climate issues from these events rest on the priorities set by the continental negotiation team for COP26, led by T. Gahouma Bekale, and the role that needs to be played by the ecosystem-based approach  (which is agroecology) in mitigating the  land and soil degradation that is threatened by climate change. Indeed, AFSA were able to report on  a side event of COP 26, a workshop entitled: "Agroecology as ecosystem based adaptation in agriculture". Subsequently AFSA  has published  key climate action demands of African governments  endorsed by over 50 civil society organisations across  Africa, representing millions of  African citizens: Our governments are urged to make stronger demands of the global north in cutting its emissions, as they are the historical high emitters;  scale up climate finance planning, funding, implementation, monitoring; focus more on adaptation than mitigation - since African countries are responsible for little of the emissions; finance for climate action; prioritise local actions to reduce GHGs; implement agroecology practice, put human rights at the centre of the climate agenda.

   In the following article we are again revisiting the question of how Africa must address climate change. The question is so crucial it must be continually  reviewed and the solutions developed over time. We are therefore bound to return to the subject again in future. Currently we must return to this question in the light of the COP 26 Summit and its side events, as noted.

Agricultural terracing - Gikongoro, Central Rwanda

COP26: Africa's Priorities and How the Continent Should Address Climate Change

In short,  the three main priorities made by African negotiators at COP 26 were[1]

1. Finance for adaptation to climate change

2. Technology Transfer

3. Capacity building for a low-carbon economy

   All of these priorities appear fairly straightforward. However, issues of food sovereignty as addressed by African civil society  may require specific definition of technology transfer that does not compromise food  sovereignty.

      We return to  the discussion of how Africa must address climate change -  last reviewed in SAES Newsletter #36, 2020. Then it was noted that

• The UN 2030 Agenda for sustainable development offers a possible blueprint for development and prosperity in the process of capacity building addressing climate change.
• According to Nigerian economist, Okonjo-Iweala, there could be $26 Trillion (USD) in benefits from capacity building to tackle climate change, but how much of this coming to Africa is yet to be estimated.
• Africa's huge unemployed youth population should be seen as an asset to be employed as the workforce in  future sustainable development  projects, rather than a threat.

   In the light of COP 26 October-November 2021, some of the discussion noted above has moved on, such as the discussions on finance at COP26, and some aspects of the discussion must be reiterated: such as the need to address youth unemployment in conjunction with development projects to ameliorate climate change. Also in need of highlighting, in considering how Africa should address climate change, is the  promotion of the development of renewable energy, and the promotion of agroecology and ecosystem based agriculture. AFSA in their climate demands to governments highlight the need for climate planning as well as climate monitoring. 

   In June 2021 a partnership including the African Academy of Sciences, African Climate Policy Centre of UNECA and others reviewed postdoctoral climate research coming out of  the CR4D - Climate Research for Development programme, aiming to improve the continent's climate data, and climate forecasting. Thanks to the success of this African led initiative,  Africa has made some progress in building its climate forecasting capacity and this must continue[2].

   It is clear that the infrastructure and capacity building to address climate change, however it is eventually funded,  represents an opportunity to address virtually all of the  salient problems facing the continent at once. The first of these problems, climate change itself,  is the most severe. The second, youth unemployment, if not addressed will  also lead to disaster for the continent. The third is the general need for sustainable development. All of these issues can be addressed in tandem.

   It is not clear how much of the  $100 Billion (US dollars) pledged annually to help developing countries ameliorate climate effects will come to Africa. Tanguy Gahouma Bekale[3] has suggested this assistance to adapt to climate change  should be increased ten-fold to  $1 Trillion (US dollars).  

   What areas of climate warming amelioration and adaptation are to be targeted with the ensuing annual funding to Africa? Well three areas that need to be addressed have been suggested above and may include the following: a) renewable energy - rural and urban household electrification, b) renewable energy  - transportation and c) ecosystem based agriculture or agroecology practice implementation.

   The promotion of renewables, particularly solar and wind energy will enable extensive off-grid electricity for rural and urban  communities throughout Africa much quicker than if we attempted to get these  areas (especially rural) connected to the national grid. The cost of renewables is starting to fall below that of fossil fuels, so that a revolutionary move towards renewable off-grid installations will happen in the not too distant future. As well as this, a renewables sector will be part of African nations' climate  NDCs. Although, in accord with the AFSA climate action demands of governments, more emphasis needs to be placed on climate adaptation.

   The change to renewable energy powered vehicles to  ameliorate climate warming  will require significant investment. This has to take into account not simply the cost of electric vehicles, but also the cost of providing suitable  quality roads, electric charging points, a stronger electrical grid, etc [4]. Given these challenges, it seems widespread adoption in Africa of electric vehicles is some way off. 

      Lastly, a crucial area of carbon reduction globally is agriculture. Africa has a history in which agroecology reflects the traditional farming practices  inherited by the small farm holders that make up the vast majority of farmers in Africa.  In line with the climate mitigation  contributions of the continent, a focus should be made on averting imminent threats to soil fertility and land conservation. Agroecology represents the best practice in maintaining the health and abundance of  soil, by preventing both land and soil degradation. Furthermore, it represents an extremely low-carbon form of agriculture, enabling Africa's effective contribution to climate change amelioration. It relies on indigenous technology, sometimes updated or merged with modern methods, and is very cost effective and  familiar to African rural communities.

   

   

Earth Science Events

February  21-24, 2022

Fourth African Regional Conference on Geosynthetics

VISION: website:https://geoafrica2021.org; Event ID:1398866

VENUE: Cairo, Egypt

March  21-23, 2022

International  Symposium on Geo-resources and the Environment

VISION: Event website: https://isyge2022.scienceconf.org/

VENUE: Hammamet, Tunisia

May 15, 2022, 3-5pm (London time), 4-6pm (Egypt/South Africa), 10am (Eastern)

Society of African Earth Scientists International Conference Meeting on Climate Change in Africa: Geosciences and Sustainable Development

VISION: a) Geoparks and Geotourism as an Initiative for Achieving Goals of 2050, 2063 and COP27; b) Africa Post-COP26 & Post-Doctoral Research Review (CR4D)

Email:saescientists@hotmail.co.uk to request zoom invitation

VENUE: Online via Zoom

August  9-10, 2022

International Conference on Tectonic Geomorphology and Paleoseismology

VISION: https://waset.org/tectonic-geomorphology-and-paleoseismology-conference-in-august-2022-in-lagos

VENUE: Lagos, Nigeria

References

[1] Kibukuru, W., Priorities for Africa at COP 26 and beyond, Africa Renewal Magazine, Nov. 2021. https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/november-2021/priorities-africa-cop26-and-beyond#:~:text=Three%20top%20priorities%20at%20COP26,total%20spent%20on%20climate%20action.

[2] Gahouma-Bekale, T., COP 26 on climate: Top Priorities for Africa, Africa Renewal, July 2021. https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/july-2021/cop26-climate-top-priorities-africa

[3] See report on the African Academy of Sciences, African Climate Policy Centre of UNECA, African Ministerial Conference on Meteorology, and others' Review  of  CR4D Postdoctoral Climate  Research Development Closing Workshop, in SAES Newsletter #39, April-June 2021.

[4] Techpoint.Africa, Global EV Adoption: The reality in Africa may be different, June, 2021. https://techpoint.africa/2021/06/09/global-ev-adoption-the-reality-in-africa-may-be-different/#:~:text=Electric%20vehicles%20remain%20rare%20in,on%20its%20roads%20are%20EVs.

 

 *Board of the Society of African Earth Scientists: Dr Enas Ahmed (Egypt), Osmin Callis (Secretary - Guyana/Nigeria), Mathada Humphrey (South Africa), Ndivhuwo Cecilia Mukosi (South Africa), Damola Nadi (Nigeria),  Dr Chukwunyere Kamalu (Chair - Nigeria).

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