African unity and coordinated action could turn environmental crises into opportunities for growth

Climate change, the loss of nature, pollution, and waste: the impacts of a triple planetary crisis are scarring Africa’s landscapes, depleting the continent’s oceans and freshwater sources, and raising urban air pollution to hazardous levels.

Some of the creeping impacts of this triple crisis are possibly the most debilitating: Africa is the most severely affected region by desertification and land degradation, with approximately 45% of its land area affected.

In the Horn of Africa and the Sahel alone, land degradation imposes food shortages on more than 23 million people. Just last month, more than 700,000 people were affected by floods in Central and West Africa and tens of millions in Southern Africa are facing drought.

Desertification, drought, and land degradation don’t happen overnight but pose a grave threat to long-term food sovereignty, gender equality, peace, and other development goals.

Africa is the world’s youngest continent, and its talents and resources are huge. The continent’s 54 countries have immense promise and power when they come together, as the budding African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement shows.

And what may be true for trade is clear for addressing common environmental challenges.

As António Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, has remarked, “Just as the injustice of climate change burns fiercely here in Africa, so do the opportunities”.

Sustainable future

The continent is poised to demonstrate that through unity and coordinated action, it can lead the world towards a more just and sustainable future.

Back in November 2022, at the UN Climate Change Conference in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, African governments working together helped broker a historic agreement on the establishment of a Loss and Damage Fund to support developing countries particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.

Subsequent gatherings of African environment ministers last year in Nairobi – for Africa Climate Week, the Africa Climate Summit, and the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment – sustained this momentum.

Later in 2023, countries aligned in Dubai (COP28) to ensure that the Loss and Damage Fund would not be a mere promise but would be replenished with actual resources. When African states unite their efforts, they can achieve substantial results for the continent’s people.

The potential is evident on multiple other issues as well: an Accelerated Partnership for Renewables in Africa brings together countries like Kenya, Ethiopia, Namibia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Zimbabwe to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy across the continent and drive green industrialization.

A partnership between Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo to establish battery and electric vehicle special economic zones is yet another example of how African nations are leveraging their natural resources for sustainable development, setting the continent as a key player in the emerging green economy.

The African Ministerial Conference on the Environment in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, which runs until 6 September is another opportunity for Africa to flex its diplomatic muscles. It is possibly the last chance for all African environment ministers to gather in the same room to align policies and actions before three critical global conferences on biodiversity, climate, and desertification later this year.

In these discussions, the importance of finance cannot be overstated. Consider that 33 of Africa’s countries are part of the Least Developed Countries group, making them highly vulnerable to economic and environmental shocks.

Consider that the average debt ratio in sub-Saharan Africa has almost doubled since 2013 and is peaking at more than 60%, making new financing expensive and forcing spending cuts.

At the same time, there is a strong need for greater investment in science-policy interfaces to better anticipate droughts and other environmental disasters by applying the best available scientific tools and adaptation measures.

A good start is by strengthening cross-border coordination, raising the political profile of environmental issues, and mobilizing the necessary resources to combat these threats.

Another crucial step is to anchor the understanding that reversing trends in deforestation, soil acidification, and land degradation is a potent economic opportunity. There is a need to center local communities in decision-making on environmental policies affecting them, and to ensure their rights are respected and that they can fully benefit from economic opportunities emerging from their lands.

From Mauritania to Djibouti, a Great Green Wall is steadily pushing against the expansive desert. Greening initiatives across Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, and Somalia, as farming projects such as in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda are revitalizing soils and boosting the livelihoods of communities. Research shows how every dollar invested in restoration can create up to $30 in economic benefits.

Africa has a leadership role in shaping the global environmental agenda, with 54 governments working together to move the continent forward.