Climate change complicates Africa’s development agenda, generating physical risks that need to be considered if development is to be resilient and long lasting. To date, impacts on people, property, and livelihoods have been limited, which might explain why climate change is a low priority for leaders and others across Africa.

However, the risk of impacts is expected to increase rapidly. Reductions in Africa’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will have a limited influence on global warming and related physical hazards. Yet despite Africa’s very low annual per capita emissions of 4.7 tonnes per capita (CO2eq), investing in low-carbon development helps avoid “transition risks” and the possibility of “stranded assets.”

Furthermore in the past, lowcarbon investments were considered costly, but investments in renewable energy technologies are not only commercially viable, but in many locations are the most cost-effective option for electrification. It is in this context that the African Development Bank Group’s (AfDB) Second Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP2) was evaluated.

Report by AfDB