Climate Change and Sustainable Development in Africa: An Overview

The purpose of this document is to provide context for a range of discussions at ADF VII, in order to drive forward response actions to climate change in Africa. It provides a basic overview of issues, opportunities and constraints related to sustaining development in a changing climate. There are also a number of Issue Papers to highlight essential matters for consideration in focus sessions at the Forum. These are elaborated further in the selected references. This document is not a detailed examination of the diverse aspects of climate change science. There are many such documents. Rather it seeks to provide the reader with the big picture. In order to address the matter of sustainable development in Africa through a changing climate it is important first to appreciate the true scale of the challenge and then respond accordingly. Anything less risks being irrelevant.