Climate Change: A List of the Ten Most Vulnerable African Countries

French Translation of the Week

Which are the most vulnerable countries to feel the negative consequences of climate change?  This is the questions that the British cabinet of risk analysis, Maplecroft, asked and who published a report on Wednesday on the consequences of the changes but also on the capacities of the states and societies to adapt.  However, Africa, and notably the Gulf of Guinea, has the most reason to worry, according to the study.

Quels sont les pays les plus vulnérables au changement climatique ? C'est la  question que s'est posé le cabinet britannique d'analyse des risques Maplecroft,  qui a publié, mercredi, un rapport sur les conséquences des bouleversements en  cours mais également sur la capacité des États et des sociétés à s'y adapter.  Or, l'Afrique, et notamment le Golfe de Guinée a, selon l'étude, de quoi  s'inquiéter.

This article has been translated from French. Click here to read the original version on Jeune Afrique.

Storms, floods, droughts, and increases in sea level… the picture is worrisome, and Africa is no exception.  This is the conclusion of the annual report, established in 2008 by the British company, Maplecroft, on the vulnerability of countries and cities to global warming.

While Bangladesh is the most vulnerable country in the world, six African countries rank within the top ten most at-risk countries, particularly in the west of the continent with Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria.  "A large portion of the most vulnerable countries to the potential impacts of climate change and the resulting extreme phenomena are concentrated in Africa," the report indicates.  "The vulnerability of the continent is due in part to its geography," it adds, mentioning the "large river systems exposed to the dangers of severe floods," the higher risks of local storms, most common in central Africa, and droughts that occur throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

Last June, it is the World Bank that sounded the alarm on the risks concerning the continent.  "With the development of coastal cities, the poorest of their residents are largely excluded from the most habitable areas and are forced to live in the places where climate change poses the greatest dangers," the World Bank representatives explained, concluding that whether they are "stuck in shacks by the river banks or in crowded areas just above sea level which are poorly drained and poorly served by public services, these people are completely exposed to the onslaught of storms associated with flooding and rising water."

However, adds Maplecroft, it is "the extreme sensitivity of the population and the weak capacity to adapt, due to the fragility of the economy, for example, and the inadequate educational, health, and infrastructural institutions, that leave a large number of countries in a particularly vulnerable position."  This is a somber assessment that recognizes the potential incapacity of political systems to adapt.

The danger is, however, the scope.  According to the study, within ten years, one third of the global economic production (more than $40,000 billion) will be generated by the countries considered the most heavily impacted by climate change.

Top 10 most vulnerable African countries to climate change

1. Guinea-Bissau (2)
2. Sierra Leone (3)
3. South Sudan (5)
4. Nigeria (6)
5. Democratic Republic of the Congo (7)
6. Ethiopia (10)
7. Eritrea (11)
8. Central African Republic (12)
9. Chad (13)
10. Senegal (14)

Article translated by Allie Stauss, Staff Intern for the Program on Leadership and Building State Capacity at the Wilson Center.

Photo attributed to Oxfam International via Flickr Commons.