Africa and climate justice at COP27 and beyond: impacts and solutions through an interdisciplinary lens

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 United Nations 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.

Climate change research and the search for solutions: rethinking interdisciplinarity

Growing political pressure to find solutions to climate change is leading to increasing calls for multiple disciplines, in particular those that are not traditionally part of climate change research, to contribute new knowledge systems that can offer deeper and broader insights to address the problem. Recognition of the complexity of climate change compels researchers to draw on interdisciplinary knowledge that marries natural sciences with social sciences and humanities. Yet most interdisciplinary approaches fail to adequately merge the framings of the disparate disciplines, resulting in reductionist messages that are largely devoid of context, and hence provide incomplete and misleading analysis for decision-making. For different knowledge systems to work better together toward climate solutions, we need to reframe the way questions are asked and research pursued, in order to inform action without slipping into reductionism. We suggest that interdisciplinarity needs to be rethought. This will require accepting a plurality of narratives, embracing multiple disciplinary perspectives, and shifting expectations of public messaging, and above all looking to integrate the appropriate disciplines that can help understand human systems in order to better mediate action.

Synergies and trade-offs between sanitation and the sustainable development goals

To better leverage opportunities arising out of sustainable and inclusive management of sanitation services there is a need for robust and comprehensive evidence of the wide-ranging benefits that sanitation can deliver. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a comprehensive framework for sustainable development broken down into 169 interconnected Targets which are articulated under 17 Goals. Based on a methodology developed at University College London (UCL), this study identifies linkages between sanitation and the 169 Targets corroborated by published evidence. We show that there are synergies between sanitation and all 17 Goals and 130 (77%) of the Targets, and trade-offs for 28 (17%) of the Targets. We identified 83 Targets (49%) that call for action in the sanitation sector. The results demonstrate the far-reaching benefits that can be unlocked from investment in sanitation, which extend beyond health and spread across sectors. The evidence base for the 17 Goals establishes links that can inform cross-sectoral action, collaborations and investment across governance levels for integrated sanitation solutions. The research provides different stakeholders with a framework that can be applied to context-specific cases and projects. We propose a range of recommendations to policy makers, practitioners and researchers who seek to take this study further to help achieve the SDGs.

Mapping of affordability levels for photovoltaic-based electricity generation in the solar belt of sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia and South Asia

Lack of access to modern forms of energy hampers efforts to reduce poverty. The provision of electricity to off-grid communities is therefore a long-standing developmental goal. Yet, many off-grid electrification projects neglect mid- and long-term operation and maintenance costs. When this is the case, electricity services are unlikely to be affordable to the communities that are the project’s primary target. Here we show that, compared with diesel-powered electricity generation systems, solar photovoltaic systems are more affordable to no less than 36% of the unelectrified populations in East Asia, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. We do so by developing geo-referenced estimates of affordability at a high level of resolution (1 km²). The analysis illustrates the differences in affordability that may be found at the subnational level, which underscores that electrification investments should be informed by subnational data.

Improving knowledge and practices of mitigating green house gas emission through waste recycling in a community, Ibadan, Nigeria

Throughout the world, waste sector has been implicated in significant contribution to anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Involving communities in recycling their solid waste would ensure climate change effect mitigation and resilience. This study was carried out to improve waste management practices through a community-led intervention at Kube-Atenda community in Ibadan, Nigeria. The study adopted a quasi-experimental design, comprising mixed method of data collection such as semi- structured questionnaire and a life-cycle-based model for calculating greenhouse gas generation potentials of various waste management practices in the area. A systematic random sampling was used to select sixty (60) households for a survey on knowledge, attitude and practices of waste management through Recovery, Reduction, Reuse and Recycling (4Rs) before and after the training intervention. Data collected were summarised using descriptive statistics, chi-square test, t-test and ANOVA at p = 0.05. The mean age of the respondent was 49.7 ± 16.7 and 68.3% were females. Respondents' knowledge scores before and after the intervention were significantly different: 7.07 ± 1.48 and 11.6 ± 1.6 while attitude scores were: 8.2 ± 2.3 and 13.5 ± 0.8. There were significant differences in the major waste disposal practices in the community before and after the intervention. All (100%) the participants were willing to participate in waste recycling business and the model predicted that adoption of 4Rs strategy had a great potential in saving greenhouse gas emissions in the community. The behaviour of the community people has changed towards waste management that promote climate change mitigation and adaptation through waste reduction, reuse, and resource recovery.