Although Africa’s greenhouse gas emissions are low, its contribution to climate change mitigation is critical to global climate action. This report evaluates Africa’s climate policy through the lens of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities,’ an asymmetrical allocation of responsibility for climate action, determined by differences in countries’ contributions to historical emissions and their current capabilities to fight climate change. The report compares Africa’s climate action with the rest of the world by contrasting differences in climate action and development levels. It classifies climate action by four criteria per capita greenhouse gas emissions, per capita CO2 emissions from fossil fuel consumption, carbon cost of growth, and the rate of per capita energy use relative to a critical minimum. Policies concerning climate action are input variables, and data from 2019 is used to avoid any bias caused by the COVID-19 pandemic years. This report also makes important recommendations about Africa’s climate action based on the evaluation of the performance parameters.
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