Transboundary climate risks have the potential to set back economic development gains, jeopardise trade and food security and impact infrastructure investments in Africa. Previous SPARC research has found that African policymakers are already aware of and concerned by a number of transboundary climate risks. What are some examples of these risks, and how can they be managed?

This policy brief, produced for the nineteenth ordinary session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) in August 2023, highlights five significant transboundary climate risks in Africa – biophysical, financial, trade, people-centred and geopolitical – that urgently need consideration for management. The authors draw on real examples from countries across Africa to show how transboundary climate risks, and the ways in which they are handled, create significant impacts for other countries. The brief also provides some practical recommendations for how African regional economic communities and their Member States can work together to manage these risks, in keeping with existing climate policy frameworks and objectives.

The policy brief was produced in collaboration with the African Group of Negotiators Experts Support (AGNES) and Adaptation Without Borders (AWB).

Authors: Sarah Opitz-Stapleton, Miriam Joshua, Telvin Denje, David Awolala, Shadrack Auma, Magnus Benzie and Katy Harris