Category: African Climate Policy

The African Group of Negotiators calls the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement a direct threat to global climate efforts, leaving vulnerable nations without critical financial and technical support.

Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and suspension of USAID funding mark a drastic shift in U.S. global policy. The crisis exposes aid dependency, prompting calls for self-sufficiency, yet leaving vulnerable populations, particularly in Africa, facing immediate hardship with multiple climate programmes and projects now at risk.

Some African countries are criminalising the use of native “uncertified” seeds, which many believe are more resilient to climate change. Governments believe certified seeds boost productivity, but rights groups claim they undermine traditional food systems while protecting industrial plant breeders’ rights. Youth groups are seeking to turn the tide by pushing governments to include food sovereignty, security and agroecology issues within national policies.

The loss of agricultural land, reduced water resources, and extreme weather events, among other factors, are creating fertile conditions for youth radicalisation in west Africa. Terrorist groups are exploiting these risk multipliers, often recruiting in the most vulnerable, impoverished, and marginalised areas. Following recurring military coups, ECOWAS is also unstable, lacking the authority, legitimacy and ability to support national climate responses. We spoke with Yero Sarr, a Senegalese climate activist to learn more.

Zimbabwe is at pains to repair the investor and carbon market damage wrought by last year’s statements, through the introduction of an Article 6 Strategy and Climate Change Management Bill.