‘Climate change should be factored in as business risk’

The effects of climate change on Africa pose a risk to companies doing business in the region. Most affected will be the coastal cities – along with the ports and support infrastructure needed for trade. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Africa is the most vulnerable continent to climate change and climate variability. Risk analysis and mapping company Maplecroft has warned that four of the ten countries most at risk from climate change are from Africa – Zimbabwe (third highest), Madagascar (5), Mozambique (7), Democratic Republic of Congo (8), and Malawi (9). Rapidly growing populations are exacerbating the impact of droughts and floods, and putting increasing pressure on the main cities as rural people leave the land in growing numbers. Inland harbours are also being affected, with piers on Lake Victoria having been left high and dry following a regional decline in annual rainfall, which started in the 1990s. Water levels have reportedly dropped by up to two metres. A number of governments and organisations are taking steps to counter the effects of climate change. Many of the activities are being co-ordinated by The African Development Bank (AfDB) through its Strategy of Climate Risk Management and Adaptation (CRMA) plan. The strategy calls for increased support for capacity building of African countries to tackle climate change risks. The plan includes “strengthening national and sub-regional infrastructure authorities (eg, ports and marine regulation authorities, transport departments, national road authorities, sub-regional power pools, civil aviation authorities, etc) to more fully incorporate climate change in long-term infrastructure plans”. The bank estimates that some US$8 billion will need to be invested to counter the impact of climate change on Africa by 2015.