Africa and Climate Justice at COP27 and beyond: impacts and solutions through an interdisciplinary lens

Abstract

Climate justice needs to be at the heart of the COP27 negotiations in Sharm El Sheikh. Climate justice is not just a financial transaction to protect the environment. It needs to be seen as the protection of the most vulnerable in society after centuries of resource exploitation. African countries disproportionately face impacts of climate change on their environments, their economies, their resources, and their infrastructure. This leads to greater vulnerability and increased exposure to the negative effects of a changing climate. In this article, we highlight the importance of climate justice and its role within the UN negotiations, and ultimately in concrete action. We discuss current climate impacts across key sectors in the African region, with a focus on health, infrastructure, food and water scarcity, energy, and finance. All sectors are affected by climate change. They are interconnected and under threat. This triggers a ripple effect, where threats in one sector have a knock-on effect on other sectors. We find that the current set of intergovernmental institutions have failed to adequately address climate justice. We also contend that a siloed approach to climate action has proven to be ineffective. As we head towards the next set of negotiations (COP27), this paper argues that the economic and social conditions in Africa can be addressed through financial and collaborative support for adaptation and localised solutions, but that this will only be achieved if climate justice is prioritised by the decision makers. This needs to include a global-scale transition in how climate finance is assessed and accessed. Climate justice underpins real effective and sustainable solutions for climate action in Africa.

Location location location: a carbon footprint calculator for transparent travel to the UN Climate Conference 2022

“…However, the marketisation of carbon fails to address the issue of climate justice. A system for valuing climate action should consider climate change multilaterally in the context of health, infrastructure, food and water security, energy and environment [ 43 ]. This could ultimately lead to a new vehicle for individuals to engage with climate change – one which can facilitate the necessary reductions in transport emissions whilst simultaneously supporting sustainable development.…”

“…Climate justice is defined by the imbalance between countries that are major contributors to climate change and countries which are most affected by it [43]. It recognises that low-income countriesbroadly speaking in the Global South -bear the least responsibility for climate change and yet are the most vulnerable to its effects [44].…”

Location location location: A carbon footprint calculator for transparent travel to COP27

“…Furthermore, by viewing climate change purely through the lens of carbon accounting, carbon offsets act only as a tool for mitigation and not adaptation. Williams et al (2022) invoke the concept of climate justice to show that the marketisation of carbon fails to address the global patterns of inequality that arise as a result of climate change. They highlight the need for a new system for valuing climate action that considers climate change multilaterally in the context of health, infrastructure, food and water security, energy, and environment.…”