New Report Highlights Climate Change Impacts On African Communities By EDU ABADE

On the sidelines of the African Peoples Counter COP, which began on October 17, 2022, the Corporate Accountability and Public Participation (CAPPA) will unveil a report titled: Impacts Of Climate Change On Frontline Communities In Africa: Case Study Of Nigeria, Cameroon, Togo and South Africa.

The report will be unveiled at a session of the Counter COP titled: Amplifying The Voices Of Frontline Communities In Africa on Friday, October 21, 2022, between 11:00 am and 1:00 pm.

 The report documents and highlights the challenges faced by communities in Nigeria, Cameroon, Togo, and South Africa and captures their vulnerability to climate change and captures the testimonials of local community people, especially women, who bear the burden of climate change but are not part of or considered relevant in the decision-making processes to address the crisis.

It details climate impacts on the Okun Alfa Community, once a leisure resort in Lagos, Nigeria which is now at the mercy of the Atlantic’s raging waters. The plight of the Okun Alfa Community is exacerbated by the Eko Atlantic City real estate project promoted by the state government and the $19 billion Dangote Refinery being built by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote.

In northern Cameroon, the Kakou and Ouro Garga communities struggle with climate change-induced drought, which has led to a decrease in agricultural yields and disruption of the agricultural calendars that existed for generations. In the two communities, the cost of food has skyrocketed, forcing families to contend with poverty and malnutrition.

In Togo, the Doevi Kope community, which had rich vegetation cover forests in the 1970s is now seriously threatened by coastal erosion and coastal flooding. The impacts are worsened by the activities of Bolloré Africa Logistics, the company that is currently constructing the Port of Lome.

Eldorado and Katlehong communities in South Africa contend with incessant exposures to drought and heat waves now adversely affecting farming and leaving young people unemployed, desperate and vulnerable. 

 The report also recommends holding big polluters of the African environment accountable for the climate crisis, as well as concrete recommendations to government, civil society and other critical interventionist agencies.

The report was put together by CAPPA, African Centre for Advocacy, Gender CC South Africa and Centre for Environmental Justice Togo with support from Corporate Accountability.