FICHE RÉGIONALE AFRIQUE DE L’OUEST

This fact sheet, based on the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, details the observed and projected impacts of climate change in West Africa. It highlights significant increases in temperature, extreme weather events, and sea-level rise, which threaten human health, food security, biodiversity, and economic stability. The document emphasizes the region's high vulnerability despite its low contribution to global emissions and calls for transformative adaptation and increased financial and research investment.

• West Africa has experienced warming that exceeds the global average, with annual and seasonal temperatures increasing by 1 to 3°C since the mid-1970s, particularly in the Sahara and Sahel regions.
• Climate change has significantly altered precipitation patterns in West Africa since the mid-1990s, leading to a more humid environment characterized by fewer but more intense rainfall events, which has increased the frequency of floods.
• Human health in West Africa is under threat from rising temperatures and extreme weather, which increase the transmission of infectious diseases and cause higher mortality rates from cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses, particularly in Burkina Faso and Ghana.
• Agricultural productivity in Africa has decreased by nearly 34% since the 1960s, with West Africa seeing specific declines in maize and wheat yields. Future warming above 2°C is projected to reduce basic crop yields across most of Africa regardless of adaptation efforts.
• Coastal cities in West Africa face severe risks from sea-level rise; by 2050, projected damages in Lagos are estimated between 3.7 and 9.4 billion USD, and in Abidjan between 14.3 and 49.6 billion USD.
• Climate-induced migration is prevalent in West Africa, with projections suggesting up to 50 million internal migrants by 2050 if global warming reaches 2.5°C.
• Economic growth in West African countries has been negatively impacted by climate change; between 1991 and 2010, the average GDP per capita for African countries was 13.6% lower than it would have been without anthropogenic climate change.
• Biodiversity in West Africa is at risk, with the Sahara and Sahel being particularly threatened. At 2°C of warming, 36% of African freshwater fish species face local population declines.
• There is a critical lack of climate research funding and data in Africa; from 1990 to 2019, Africa received only 3.8% of global climatological research funding, with 78% of that amount allocated to institutions in the North.
• Effective adaptation in West Africa requires transformative approaches, including ecosystem-based adaptation, drought-tolerant crop varieties, and integrated water resource management, but is severely limited by a lack of financing.

APA

Trisos, C., Totin, E., Adelekan, I., Lennard, C., Simpson, N., & New, M. (2022). FICHE RÉGIONALE AFRIQUE DE L’OUEST. Climate and Development Knowledge Network. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/2022-04/IPCC%20Regional%20Factsheet%202_West%20Africa%E2%80%93FR_web.pdf

Chicago

Trisos, Christopher, Edmond Totin, Ibidun Adelekan, Chris Lennard, Nicholas Simpson, and Mark New. FICHE RÉGIONALE AFRIQUE DE L’OUEST. Climate and Development Knowledge Network, 2022. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/2022-04/IPCC%20Regional%20Factsheet%202_West%20Africa%E2%80%93FR_web.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{trisos2022fiche, author = {Trisos, Christopher and Totin, Edmond and Adelekan, Ibidun and Lennard, Chris and Simpson, Nicholas and New, Mark}, title = {{FICHE RÉGIONALE AFRIQUE DE L’OUEST}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2022}, url = {https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/2022-04/IPCC%20Regional%20Factsheet%202_West%20Africa%E2%80%93FR_web.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }