How can Africa manage the transboundary climate risks?

This policy brief defines transboundary climate risks (TCRs) as risks that cascade across borders due to climate change or the actions taken to mitigate and adapt to it. Focusing on Africa, the document categorizes these risks into biophysical, financial, trade, people-centred, and geopolitical domains. It highlights how TCRs can jeopardize food security, debt stability, and energy generation (particularly hydropower), urging greater cooperation between the African Union, regional economic communities, and Member States.

• The document identifies five significant categories of transboundary climate risks (TCRs) in Africa that require urgent management: biophysical risks involving shared natural resources or livestock disease; financial risks related to foreign direct investment in infrastructure; trade risks concerning climate-sensitive goods like rice and food security; people-centred risks including displacement and transhumance; and geopolitical risks involving regional cooperation efforts such as the Great Green Wall.
• Transboundary climate risks pose threats to Africa's economic stability and infrastructure. Specifically, non-resilient infrastructure investments risk damage or destruction, which can lead to debt issues and cascading regional economic losses due to disrupted connectivity. Additionally, because hydropower provides most of Africa's electricity, climate-driven water supply issues like prolonged drought can create cross-border risks through disrupted generation.
• Food security in Africa is facing new transboundary climate risks driven by shifting diets and growing populations, which have increased the continent's dependence on food imports.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2023). How can Africa manage the transboundary climate risks? https://www.sei.org/publications/how-can-africa-manage-the-transboundary-climate-risks/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. How can Africa manage the transboundary climate risks? 2023. https://www.sei.org/publications/how-can-africa-manage-the-transboundary-climate-risks/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=How can Africa manage the transboundary climate risks? |date=22 August 2023 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/how-can-africa-manage-the-transboundary-climate-risks/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2023how, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{How can Africa manage the transboundary climate risks?}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2023}, month = aug, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/how-can-africa-manage-the-transboundary-climate-risks/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }