The Impact of Climate Change for Communities in Africa

There are many dimensions to climate change. When temperature and weather patterns change, the impact is felt in small and large ways. While some climate change can be attributed to nature, according to the United Nations, since the 1800s how we live has contributed to the impact of climate change on our global ecosystems. 

Africa's population size is not in line with its contribution to global CO2 emissions.  Energy for Growth Hub illustrates this very well in its blog post Infographic: What is sub-Saharan Africa’s Contribution to Global CO2 Emissions? But despite its low contribution to CO2 emissions, African communities are disproportionally affected by climate change. The reality for funders is that regardless of their grantmaking priorities, climate change must be factored into their grantmaking strategies.

Understanding the Impact of Climate Change in Africa

There are myriad resources that take a deep dive into climate change in Africa. In this blog we highlight a few of them.

The State of the Climate in Africa 2020  is the second report on Africa produced by the World Meteorological Organization in partnership with the African Union. Among its sobering examples of climate change's impact is the potential for the glaciers on Kenya's highest mountain, Mount Kenya, to disappear by 2030.

The African Development Bank's Environment & Climate Change Data Portal gathers data from a range of international organizations and national agencies. You can find profiles on the impact of climate change in individual African countries.    

The recommendations of the Global Center on Adaptation and the Africa Adaptation Initiative's May 2020 policy brief, Integrated Responses to Building Climate and Pandemic Resilience in Africa take into account the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. It highlights the importance of supporting resilient infrastructure and food security to address what it characterizes as "the collision between the covid 19 pandemic and Africa's climate crisis." 

The United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recent reports, Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability , are at the center of recent discussion. These reports caution that we have fallen short of the necessary targets to the address climate change and the window for action is shrinking especially in light of the pandemic. However, the report is encouraging. "The real impact of the coronavirus crisis on climate will ultimately depend on the choices we make in how we recover." (p.4)

African Communities Tackle Climate Change

The 2019 report from Afrobarometer, Change Ahead: Experience and Awareness of Climate Change in Africa, capture public opinion in 34 countries about climate change. They surveyed over 45,000 people over two years about their experience and awareness of climate change. It's not surprising that their major concerns are droughts and flooding and the overall threat to food security.  

Both modern and traditional methods have to be part of the solutions. Climate Change Africa Opportunities (CCAO) based in the Democratic Republic of Congo works to design and implement both approaches as well as monitor and evaluate them. Through their Green Ambassadors program, this pan-African NGO brings together young people who are active in the climate change movement.

Organizations are also building global networks to amplify local voices in the climate justice dialogue. The PanAfrican Climate Justice Alliance based in Kenya is a consortium of more than 1,000 organizations from 48 African countries. They held their first Nairobi Summer School on Climate Justice in September 2021 at Kenyatta University.  

Africa has the world’s youngest population, and they are playing major roles in climate change. This is Africa is a pan-African digital media platform run by a lean team of five young Africans. Check out their recent spotlight on, "10 African climate warriors fighting for rights-based, just and inclusive Climate Action.

Using Grants and Investments to Mitigate Climate Change

The ClimateWorks Foundation 2021 report on funding for climate mitigation paints a rather dismal picture of funding to Africa. According to the report, of the $1.3 billion in foundation funding between 2015 and 2020,  Africa — the continent, received the same amount as India— the country, $55 million. The African continent is nine times larger than India with about the same population. They also commissioned a landscape study along with the Good Energies Foundation, Opportunities for Climate Engagement in Africa. For most private funders, the key question is how these opportunities align with their funding interests and goals.

However, funders are taking different approaches to the climate change challenge.

Global Greengrants Fund has developed an approach that is guided by community leaders and activists and a streamlined grantmaking process to enable a quick response. In collaboration with the Environmental Funders Working Group on Civil Society of the Funders initiative for Civil Society, they produced Closing Civil Space: What Environmental Funders Need to Know. This is a useful read for all funders. It examines how growing restrictions are threatening environmental protection efforts and discusses counter-strategies that have proven to be effective. The Climate Justice Resilience Fund. established with a grant from the Oak Foundation, not only makes grants but also is part of a donor collaborative to increase resources to support climate justice initiatives.

The Divest-Invest Philanthropy advocates for funders to not only support climate solutions through their grantmaking about also in their investments. This coalition of foundations is switching their investments in fossil fuels to clean energy. The Divest-Invest initiative is not just foundations, It also includes colleges, pension funds, faith groups, and other institutional and individual investors. The Wallace Global Fund is a founding member of the Divest-Invest Initiative. They share information about this initiative and their foundation's journey to make a change in their investment strategy on their website.