Search Climate Insights Directory

This research paper examines the co-constitutive relationship between economic decline and rising insecurity in Nigeria, arguing that poor governance, dwindling state capacity, and systemic poverty drive violence across the country's geopolitical zones.

This research paper argues that Nigeria's growing insecurity is driven by a vicious cycle of poverty, dwindling state capacity, and the rent-seeking practices of the political elite. The author contends that economic desperation, exacerbated by mismanagement and corruption, pushes citizens toward crime and violence across all geopolitical zones.

This research paper analyzes Nigeria's 2023 general elections, highlighting the role of ethno-regional dynamics over ideology. It details the platforms of the four main contenders—Bola Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso—and discusses the country's severe security and economic challenges. The paper notes that while policy goals are similar, the outcome will impact Nigeria's internal stability and its role as a critical LNG supplier to Europe amid the energy crisis caused by the Russia-Ukraine war.

This research paper by the International Institute for Sustainable Development examines the evolution of international land governance, focusing on the transition from top-down desertification efforts to the concept of Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN). It details the drivers of land degradation, the role of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and the socio-economic barriers—such as land tenure and gender inequality—that hinder restoration efforts.

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.

This factsheet summarizes the IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report for West Africa, detailing how the region is warming faster than the global average. It highlights severe risks to food security, human health (specifically heat-related mortality and diarrhoeal diseases), and biodiversity. The report emphasizes that while adaptation options like ecosystem-based solutions exist, they are severely hindered by a lack of finance and critical data gaps in climate research.

A keynote speech delivered by Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi of the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET) at the Youth Connekt Africa Summit, advocating for increased regional labor mobility to address youth unemployment and skills gaps in Africa.

The West Africa Coastal Areas Resilience Investment Project (WACA 2) is a regional initiative designed to strengthen coastal resilience in six West African countries through a portfolio of investments that mainstream climate risks into national policies and target vulnerable sectors including transport, urban, and natural resources.

The ARM-Harith Cities & Climate Transition Fund (The ACT Fund) is a mid-market greenfield infrastructure fund designed to expand sustainable infrastructure in West Africa. It utilizes a blended-currency mechanism to reduce financing friction at early project stages and mobilize local institutional investment through structured exit solutions.

This research paper develops four narrative scenarios to project future fishery conflicts between 2030 and 2060, integrating climate change and overfishing with broader societal, economic, and political trends.

This special report analyzes the initial response to COVID-19 in Africa, examining the vulnerabilities of the continent's health systems, the various mitigation strategies adopted by different nations, and the challenges of implementing lockdowns in contexts of high poverty and informality.

This July 2020 issue of the Peace & Security Council Report by the Institute for Security Studies examines critical political and security challenges across Africa, focusing on the Central African Republic's electoral turning point, the diplomatic impasse between Somalia and Somaliland, insecurity in the Sahel, and the impact of COVID-19 on governance and elections across the continent.

This June 2020 report from the Institute for Security Studies analyzes the activities of the African Union's Peace and Security Council (PSC), focusing on regional coordination against COVID-19, the political and security situation in Somalia, institutional reforms within the AU Commission, and the challenges of borderland security and youth engagement.

The 'Mapping of Global and Regional Resilience Initiatives' is a report published by the Global Resilience Partnership (GRP) in March 2020. It provides a comprehensive directory of funds, financing facilities, networks, alliances, partnerships, organisations, programmes, and projects that focus on or incorporate elements of climate and disaster resilience.

This case study examines how potential World Trade Organization (WTO) rules on fisheries subsidies could affect the sardinella fishery in the waters of The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, and Senegal, where overfishing and excessive capacity threaten food security and livelihoods.

The Lab, managed by the Climate Policy Initiative, launched six financial instruments in 2019 targeting climate mitigation and adaptation in developing countries. These instruments focus on blue carbon, sustainable agriculture, sustainable cities, and energy access, contributing to a total of 41 instruments that have mobilized nearly US$ 2 billion since 2014.

This technical annex assesses progress toward Goal 1 of the New York Declaration on Forests (NYDF), which aims to halve natural forest loss globally by 2020 and end it by 2030. The report finds that the world is not on track to meet these targets, as average annual global gross tree cover loss and carbon emissions from tropical forests increased between 2014 and 2018 compared to historical baselines, despite a decline in loss observed in 2018.

This event report documents a session titled "Colliding climate and conflict risks: building resilience from an integrated approach in fragile and most vulnerable places," held during a GRP/FAO side event preceding the UN Africa Climate Week in Accra, Ghana, on 18 March 2019. The session focused on identifying local actions in Africa to combat food insecurity and conflict risks, analyzing the barriers to their implementation, and discussing strategies to scale these initiatives to national and global levels.

This guide, prepared by the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN), the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), and SouthSouthNorth (SSN), translates the findings of the 2019 IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Land specifically for African policymakers. It examines the bidirectional relationship between land and climate, the risks of desertification in arid zones, and the resulting impacts on food security and poverty. The document outlines sustainable land management techniques, the importance of gender-inclusive policies, and the need for integrated governance to enhance resilience across the continent.

This guide distils the 2019 IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Land for African decision-makers. It highlights the critical link between land degradation and climate change, noting that desertification affects 46 African nations and threatens food security. The report advocates for integrated governance, the empowerment of women and marginalized groups, and the adoption of sustainable land management practices—such as those seen in the Great Green Wall initiative—to build resilience and mitigate emissions.