New book predicts impacts of climate change on Africa

Impacts of climate change on Africa’s development and prospects for the continent’s growth in a new low-carbon economy are among the subjects covered in a new book by the director of the International Institute for Environment and Development, Camilla Toulmin.

Climate Change in Africa is published by Zed Books and will be launched on 3 November at the Royal Commonwealth Society in London, where Toulmin will argue that African voices will need to be much louder if the global deal due to be sealed in December in Copenhagen is to serve Africa’s interests.

“If we allow the global average temperature to rise by two degrees, that will spell disaster for many of Africa’s people,” says Toulmin. “The funds currently on offer for adaptation to climate change are tiny in relation to what the continents needs, and costs will escalate the longer we delay action to cut greenhouse gases in industrialised countries.”

The book outlines current thinking and evidence about the impact climate change will have on Africa's development prospects.

In this accessible and authoritative book, Dr Toulmin uses case studies to examine issues ranging from natural disasters to biofuels and from conflict to the oil industry. The book considers what future there might be for Africa in a carbon-constrained world, and identifies areas of promise as well as challenge.

“Climate change will be enormously damaging for poorer parts of the world, leading to crises with crops, livestock, water supplies and coastal areas,” says Toulmin. “Within Africa, it's likely to be the continent's poorest people who are hit hardest. Yet there will also be new opportunities around global carbon management where African countries have much to offer.”

Climate Change in Africa has received advance praise from leading thinkers in the climate-change arena.

• Lord Nicholas Stern, author of the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, said: “This is a very clear, reasoned and thoughtful book which will be of great importance in the crucial discussions which lie ahead.”
• Wangari Maathai, 2004 Nobel peace prize winner, said: “This new book takes a timely look into the policies, politics and roles different actors in society need adopt to effectively address climate change.”
• Duncan Green, head of research at Oxfam said: “In the run up to the Copenhagen climate summit, this book should be required reading for anyone wishing to get to grips with the multiple interconnections between climate change and development in the world's poorest continent.“
• Wolfgang Sachs of the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, said: “Speaking about global warming, who really thinks of Africa? Read Toulmin's book to fully grasp the double injustice of our time: Africa, though without any responsibility for climate change, will dramatically suffer; and yet, the innocent victim is not given much voice at the ongoing climate negotiations.”