This brief looks at how transboundary and cascading climate risks could impact different African regions, with a focus on East Africa, West Africa and Southern Africa. It then examines what roles national adaptation plans (NAPs) and regional adaptation plans can play in managing these risks.

Productive natural ecosystems are being lost and degraded by poorly planned and managed commercial and small-scale livelihood activities in Zimbabwe, and threats will be further exacerbated by climate change.

An estimated 3.6 billion people – almost half the global population – live without access to safely managed sanitation. These figures come with a devastating human cost: each day, around 1000 children under 5 years of age die from diarrheal diseases attributed directly or indirectly to unsafe water, sanitation and hand hygiene.

This report relies on several data sources.

West Africa experienced slower economic growth over the past year except for Cabo Verde, The Gambia, Guinea, Mali, and Niger, according to the African Development Bank’s 2023 West Africa Economic Outlook report.

The African Development Bank’s East Africa Economic Outlook 2023 reviews the economic performance of 13 Eastern African countries over the past year. The countries are Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.

The total number of court cases focused on climate action has more than doubled since 2017 and is growing worldwide, according to this new report by the UNEP. The trend indicates that climate litigation is becoming an integral part of the international push for greater climate action and justice.

North African countries are projected to see a slight increase in economic growth to 4.6 percent in 2023 and 4.4 percent in 2024, and should make green growth an urgent priority, according to the African Development Bank.

Somalia’s natural and human geography is shaped by its harsh climate. Lying at the eastern extremity of the Sahel, Somalia has an arid to semi-arid climate. The country is in the midst of a prolonged and complex climate disaster, which shows little sign of abating.

Nearly 29 million children with disabilities live in Eastern and Southern Africa. Each of them – like every child in the world – has the right to be nurtured and supported through responsive care and education, to receive adequate nutrition and social protection, and to enjoy play and leisure time. Too often, however, such rights are denied.