ICTs for Climate Change Adaptation in Africa

Creech, Heather; Akoh, Ben; Parry, Jo-Ellen

ICTs for Climate Change Adaptation in Africa

Autores

Creech, Heather

Akoh, Ben

Parry, Jo-Ellen

Editor

World Bank, Washington, DC

Descripción

Like other regions of the world, Africa is beginning to experience the impacts of human-induced climate change. These observed changes in climate parameters have not occurred uniformly across Africa. Mitigation is concerned with reducing the level of greenhouse gas emissions in the Earth's atmosphere that are the principal causes of climate change. Adaptation is concerned not with prevention but, in the words of the intergovernmental panel on climate change, with adjustments in human and or natural systems to reduce adverse impacts or take advantage of opportunities that may arise from it. Information and communication technology (ICT) have had an increasing impact on economic and social development over the past two decades, resulting from their capacity to generate and disseminate information, to facilitate the coordination of different actors in and beyond government, and to make government, business, and development processes more efficient. ICTs also have a complex relationship with sustainability and with the underlying cause of climate change. This relationship can be described in terms of the effects of ICTs: first order (direct) effects concern the impacts which ICTs have on climate change, in particular the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the production, use and disposal of communications equipment and services, accounting for between 2 and 2.5 percent of global emissions. Second order (indirect) effects concern the role ICTs can play in reducing emissions resulting from other industrial sectors, by adopting ICTs to improve efficiency and production. Third order (societal) effects result from large-scale changes in social and economic behavior resulting from widespread use of ICTs, including changing patterns of trade, production and consumption, and global to local engagement of citizens in decision making.

Palabras clave

ACCESS TO DATA, ACIDIFICATION, ADAPTATION ACTIVITIES, ADAPTATION EFFORTS, ADAPTATION FRAMEWORK, ADAPTATION IN AGRICULTURE, ADAPTATION INTERVENTIONS, ADAPTATION NEEDS, ADAPTATION PLANNING, ADAPTATION PLANS, ADAPTATION POLICY, ADAPTATION POLICY DEVELOPMENT, ADAPTATION SUPPORT, ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE, ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE, ADAPTING, ADAPTIVE CAPACITY, ADAPTIVE CAPACITY OF FARMERS, AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION, ATMOSPHERE, AVAILABILITY OF WATER, BASES, CAPACITY BUILDING, CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT, CAPACITY-BUILDING, CARBON, CIVIL SOCIETY, CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS, CLEAN TECHNOLOGIES, CLIMATE, CLIMATE CHANGE, CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION, CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION STRATEGIES, CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS, CLIMATE CHANGE INFORMATION, CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION, CLIMATE CHANGE PROJECTIONS, CLIMATE CONDITIONS, CLIMATE DISASTERS, CLIMATE IMPACTS, CLIMATE MODELLING, CLIMATE MODELLING SYSTEM, CLIMATE MONITORING, CLIMATE PARAMETERS, CLIMATE PROOFING, CLIMATE RESPONSE, CLIMATE VARIABILITY, CLIMATIC VARIATIONS, CO2, CONFRONTING CLIMATE CHANGE, CYCLONES, DECISION MAKING, DECREASE IN RAINFALL, DEFORESTATION, DIRECT IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE, DISASTER PREPAREDNESS, DISASTER RISK, DISASTER RISK REDUCTION, DRY SEASON, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ECONOMIC SECTORS, ECOSYSTEM, ENERGY EFFICIENCY, ENERGY PRICES, EXTREME CLIMATE EVENTS, EXTREME EVENTS, FINANCIAL RESOURCES, FINANCIAL SERVICES, FIRE MANAGEMENT, FLOOD, FLOODING, FLOODS, FOREST, FOREST RESERVES, FOREST RESOURCES, FORESTRY, FORESTRY POLICY, FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE, GLACIAL LAKE, GLACIAL LAKE OUTBURST, GLACIAL LAKES, GLOBAL EMISSIONS, GREENHOUSE, GREENHOUSE GAS, GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS, ICE, ICE FIELDS, IMPACT OF CLIMATE, IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE, IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE, INCOME, INLAND LAKES, INTERNATIONAL RESPONSES TO CLIMATE CHANGE, LAND MANAGEMENT, LOCAL COMMUNITIES, LOCAL COMMUNITY, LOWER PRICES, MANAGEMENT OF WATER, MANAGING CLIMATE RISK, METEOROLOGICAL DATA, METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION, METEOROLOGY, MONSOONS, NATIONAL ADAPTATION, NATIONAL WATER POLICY, NATURAL DISASTER, OCEANS, POLICY MAKERS, PRECIPITATION, RAIN, RAINFALL, RAINFALL PATTERNS, RAINFALL VARIABILITY, REGIONAL CLIMATE, RIVERS, SEA WALLS, SEASON, STRATEGIES FOR CLIMATE CHANGE, TEMPERATURE, TEMPERATURE INCREASES, TEMPERATURES, VULNERABILITY TO CLIMATE CHANGE, WATER MANAGEMENT, WATER POINTS, WATER RESOURCES, WATER SUPPLY, WIND, WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY