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With an acceleration of the global net-zero journey, there is increasing focus on developing countries and their lack of affordability to meet such net-zero targets. A clear contrast is evident when considering Africa; as home to 17% of the global population, producing less than 5% of global annual emissions and accounting for only 3% of global cumulative emissions. Notwithstanding,…

Droughts need not always cause humanitarian and economic disasters. Their effects on vulnerable communities and ecosystems can be mitigated by human institutions and actions. Preparedness for drought risks and mitigation of them can involve a range of different sectors and strategic entry- points from water conservation and natural resource management to multi-hazard approaches, public education…

Africa is severely impacted by the triple crisis of debt, climate change and nature loss. The continent’s debt now stands at more than 70% of GDP. There is potential to address these crises through ‘general purpose’ debt financing linked to climate and nature key performance indicators (KPIs). For severely indebted African countries this could be through debt-for climate-and-nature conversion or…

The world is facing an environmental crisis of unprecedented scale. Humanity has crossed several of its planetary boundaries and is leaving what scientists call the safe operating space for Earth and the systems that provide the basis for human wellbeing and prosperity.This is particularly the case for two interlinked crises: biodiversity loss and climate change. Ecosystems, which both sustain…

Approaches integrating environmental management practices have been gaining importance in recent years. Sustainable Land Management (SLM), Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA), Ecosystem-based disaster Risk Reduction (Eco-DRR) and Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are widely applied approaches that tackle certain drivers of challenges such as food insecurity, water scarcity, decline in biodiversity and…

A renewables-based energy transition promises to deliver vast socio-economic benefits to countries across Africa, improving energy access, creating jobs and boosting energy security. To realise these benefits, African countries have an opportunity to leapfrog fossil fuel technologies to a more sustainable, climate-friendly power strategy aligned with the Paris Agreement and low-carbon growth.