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7.1. Issue Analysis
7. ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE
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7.1. Issue Analysis
Climate change is one of the most pressing challenges globally. Africa is said to be one of the world’s most vulnerable continents to the effects of climate change, although it contributes minimally to the roots of the problem.2009 The impacts of climate change in Africa vary according to specific sub-regional environmental and socioeconomic contexts.2010 Central and East Africa, for example, have seen changes in seasonal rainfall alongside increasingly prolonged drought.2011 A decrease in rain and an increase in temperatures present challenges in Southern Africa. In North Africa, the most common climate-related disaster is flooding, resulting in loss of lives and livelihoods. Changing rainfall patterns exert pressure on pastoralists in West Africa. The region has seen an increase in conflict and competition between pastoralists and farmers over land, water and forage.2012 With temperatures rising and a decrease in precipitation, many countries are experiencing crop failures and shrinking natural resources, including land and water, leading to increased food insecurity and conflict, loss of lives and livelihoods.
Meanwhile, the impacts of climate change are not gender-neutral. African women are disproportionately vulnerable to the effects of climate change, which exacerbates existing gender disparities, leading to further human rights violations. Droughts and drying river basins, flooding, coastal erosion and rising sea levels, for example, force many women and girls to migrate, placing them at a greater risk of trafficking, sexual abuse and GBV.2013 African women nevertheless play a critical role in developing climate change responses because of their considerable skills and knowledge of sustainable resource management and practices.
Articles 18 of the Maputo Protocol guarantees women the right to live in a healthy and sustainable environment. It calls upon States Parties to ensure greater participation of women in the planning, management and preservation of the environment and the sustainable use of natural resources at all levels. States shall also promote research and investment in new and renewable energy sources and appropriate technologies, including information technologies; facilitate women’s access to and participation in their
control; and protect and enable the development of women’s indigenous knowledge systems.2014 Similarly, Article 19 guarantees women the right to sustainable development and the full enjoyment of this right. The Article calls on States Parties to, among others, introduce a gender perspective in national development planning procedures and ensure participation of women at all levels in the conceptualisation, decision-making, implementation and evaluation of development policies and programmes.2015 Goal 5 of the AWD on environment and climate change aims to identify women’s role in mitigating climate change as custodians of the environment, making sure they benefit from new global packages to fight climate change.2016
During the AWD, the AU took steps to address the impact of climate change with a gender perspective. In 2014, the AU introduced the draft African Strategy on Climate Change 2015–2035. This aims to provide a comprehensive framework for integrated and coordinated mechanisms to give strategic direction to the Member States and other stakeholders in addressing challenges and opportunities associated with climate change on the continent, with the view to improving the livelihoods of the African people and the environment in which they live. The draft Strategy notes the connection between women, the environment and climate change.2017 It recognises that women may need particular support to adapt to climate change. Strengthening women’s rights to and control of assets in household and agricultural production can improve the effectiveness of their risk management strategies.2018 Action 4 under Goal 33 urges Member States to “promote gender-sensitive adaptation measures to address the impacts of climate change on women.”2019 The objective of the most recent strategy, the Draft Africa Climate Change Strategy 2020–2030, is the achievement of Agenda 2063 by building the resilience of the African continent to the negative impacts of climate change and its capacity to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts in accordance with SDG 13.2020 The Strategy includes gender considerations throughout and notes, in particular, the challenges women face and the importance of including gender equity to address the challenges ahead.2021
In 2015, the AU adopted Agenda 2063. This notes the impact of climate change on the African continent and calls on Member States to speed up actions and act with a sense of urgency on climate change and the environment and for full gender equality in all aspects of life. Furthermore, it calls on States to implement the Programme on Climate Action in Africa, including those programmes targeting women and youth.2022 Accompanying Agenda 2063 is the first Ten Year Implementation Plan 2013–2023. This aims to build environmentally sustainable and climate-resilient economies and communities by focusing, among others, on natural disaster preparedness and prevention.2023 It also calls for the establishment of the African Climate Fund, which will assist in developing and implementing intervention strategies at a national level.2024
Over the Decade, nine countries (Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Mauritania, Republic of Congo and South Africa) ratified the 2003 African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (revised version). As of July 2018, a total of 17 countries have ratified and 42 have signed the Convention. 2025 The Convention aims to enhance environmental protection; foster the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources; and harmonise and coordinate policies in these fields to achieve ecologically rational, economically sound and socially acceptable development policies and programmes.2026 It revises the 1968 African Convention of Nature and Natural Resources to take into account recent developments in the African environment and natural resources.
The AUC has also undertaken institutional reform to address the environment and climate change. The African Working Group on Gender and Climate Change, established in 2013, coordinates and provides leadership for Africa’s engagement in regional and global gender and climate change processes.2027 To advance the efforts of the Working Group, in 2014 the African Heads of State agreed to develop a Women and Gender Programme on Climate Change of the Committee of African Heads of State and Governments on Climate Change.2028 The goal is to engage women in climate change-related actions such as the provision of practical support and training for women negotiators to ensure gender-responsive legislation and programme implementation in Africa.2029
