Climate Risk Impacts and Adaptation in Southern Africa

This seminar report details a presentation by Dr. Emma Archer and a response by Dr. Jakkie Cilliers on climate risk impacts and adaptation in Southern Africa. The event, hosted by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Pretoria on 22 June 2009, examined the vulnerability of sectors such as agriculture, water, and health, and discussed the role of governance and urbanization in mitigating climate-induced risks.

• Current global warming is distinguished from historical climate variations by its rapid pace and a clear man-made component, driven by the enhanced greenhouse effect resulting from industrialization and fossil fuel combustion.
• Projections for Africa indicate a general warming trend across the continent in all seasons, with drier subtropical regions warming more than the moister tropics. Global average surface temperatures increased by approximately 0.6 Celsius over the 20th century.
• Climate change poses significant risks to several key sectors in Southern Africa: agriculture faces heat stress on maize and livestock and shifts in yields; the water sector faces decreased winter rainfall, poorer water quality from algal blooms, and infrastructure threats from floods; and the health sector is vulnerable to heat stress, air pollution, and vector-borne diseases like malaria and dengue.
• Climate change is characterized as a 'threat multiplier' rather than a direct cause of conflict in Africa. It may trigger instability through four primary links: increased competition over reduced water supplies, food insecurity leading to conflict over productive land, destabilizing population movements due to sea-level rise or disasters, and the potential for socio-economic collapse in fragile states due to cumulative poverty.
• Africa's high vulnerability to climate change is attributed to its reliance on climate-dependent sectors (such as rain-fed agriculture), widespread poverty, and a 'governance shortage' rather than a lack of natural resources like water or energy.
• Adaptation strategies in South Africa and the SADC region include moving toward multi-sectoral strategies, coupling capacity building with early warning and disaster management processes, and implementing specific initiatives such as the Second National Communication on Climate Change and the Risk & Vulnerability Atlas.

APA

Institute for Security Studies (2009). Climate Risk Impacts and Adaptation in Southern Africa. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/22JUN09REPCLIMATECHANGE.PDF

Chicago

Institute for Security Studies. Climate Risk Impacts and Adaptation in Southern Africa. 2009. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/22JUN09REPCLIMATECHANGE.PDF.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Security Studies |title=Climate Risk Impacts and Adaptation in Southern Africa |date=22 June 2009 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/22JUN09REPCLIMATECHANGE.PDF |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforsecuritystudies2009climate, author = {{Institute for Security Studies}}, title = {{Climate Risk Impacts and Adaptation in Southern Africa}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2009}, month = jun, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/22JUN09REPCLIMATECHANGE.PDF}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }