ENERGY, FOOD, & WATER SECURITY + SOCIAL & ENVIRONMENTAL EQUITY
AFRICA SHARES LITTLE OF THE WORLD’S WEALTH, SCARCELY CONTRIBUTING TO CLIMATE CHANGE, YET IT IS THE AREA MOST VULNERABLE TO THE EFFECTS OF INDUSTRIALIZATION BY THE GLOBAL NORTH
THE CHALLENGE
ADDRESSING THE CONSEQUENCES OF UNEQUAL DEVELOPMENT FOR AFRICA
(WHERE ~1.3 BILLION PEOPLE INHABIT 30 MILLION SQ. KM OF LAND)
THE GLOBAL CARBON BUDGET HAS LARGELY BENEFITED THE NORTH – AFRICA HAS REMAINED POOR AND LARGELY NON-INDUSTRIALIZED, SUFFERING FROM:
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Inequitable electricity access – under 50 percent of Africa's people (~600mm) have basic energy access
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The world’s highest level of land degradation– desertification affects ~45 % of Africa
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Pervasive food insecurity – one out of five people in Africa goes to sleep each night hungry (~140mm) face acute food insecurity
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Widespread water insecurity – 418mm people lack safe drinking water
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Prevalent lack of sanitation – 779mm Africans lack basic services, 839mm still lack basic hygiene
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Prevailing wealth and gender inequalities
LAND AND ECOSYSTEM DEGRADATION
THE NATURE CRISIS: THE GLOBAL SOUTH PAYS THE PRICE FOR THE EXTERNALITIES CAUSED BY THE GLOBAL NORTH
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Ecosystem degradation affects the well-being of an estimated 3.2 billion people (40% of the world population)
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Each year we lose ecosystem services worth > 10% percent of global economic output (UNEP)
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From 1997 to 2011 alone, the world lost an estimated $4-20 trillion per annum in ecosystem services due to land-cover change and USD 6-11 tn per annum due to from land degradation (OECD)
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In Africa alone, ~65% of productive land is now degraded and ~45% is affected by desertification (FAO)
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Global terrestrial restoration costs (not including marine ecosystems) are estimated to exceed USD 200 billion per year by 2030 (UNEP)
