Climate Change

The African Society of International Law (AfSIL) is pleased to invite you to submit your contributions to its eleventh annual conference which will take place in Cairo, Egypt on 28 and 29 October 2022. The theme of this year’s conference is "Africa and the Challenge of Climate Change".

The American Society of International Law (ASIL) initiated a Global Engagement Series in collaboration with our regional Colleague Societies. The series comprise four virtual events held as “previews” in the weeks preceding ASIL’s Annual Meeting. AfSDJN is the lead coordinator of this years Global Engagement Series for the African Region.The preview sessions will be available worldwide, free of charge.

The News and Events published every week include conferences, major developments in the field of International Economic Law in Africa at the national, sub-regional and regional levels as well as relevant case law.

UNCTAD and IIED are organising a webinar on international investment agreements and climate action on 4 February 2022. This event will bring together experts and stakeholders from government, international organisations, civil society and academia to discuss the reform of the international investment agreements (IIAs) regime for climate change goals.

Africa is by far the continent with the lowest carbon emissions, accounting for between 2% to 3% of global CO2 emissions (with South Africa accounting for about 33% of all CO2 emissions in Sub-Sahara Africa). However, with the prospects of increased intra-Africa trade as a consequence of the ambitions of African states under the African Continental Free Trade Area ("AfCFTA") it is inevitable for CO2 emissions to increase with the expanded use of fossil fuels (petroleum products, gas and coal) in prospective industries[1] who intend to tap into the opportunities that the AfCFTA presents. In addition, the prospects of increased trade between Africa states and other strategic trading partners such as the United States, the European Union and China will also contribute to Africa's pie of CO2 emission to increase gradually overtime. As for the rest of the world, the commitment to decarbonization the global economy has become even much strong pursuant to the release of report titled 'Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis' dated August 2021 by the Intergovernmental Committee on Climate Change ("ICCC Report"). The ICCC Report has set-off the alarm bells that it may already be too late to meet the CO2 emissions target and has re-emphasized the need for accelerated investment in clean energy technologies and has now largely solidified the significant role green hydrogen can play as part of the energy transition from fossil fuels (petroleum products etc) to meet the global target of reducing CO2 emissions to about 1.5 degrees Celsius.

COP26 ended with a palpable sense of despair as industrialised states failed once again to deliver on long-standing commitments to finance adaptation and mitigation efforts in the Global South. As attempts to reach accord floundered, private capital materialised as the most likely source of this vital funding. Whilst their dire situation may leave post-colonial states with no option but to accept this investment, its continued entrenchment in the economies and polities of the Global South can only serve to perpetuate the centuries-long cycle of subordination, dependence, and debt.

African nations have only marginally contributed to global warming relative to developed and emerging economies in the Americas, Asia, and Europe. However, the African continent will bear a disproportionate burden of the negative impacts of climate change. Climate-related challenges like flooding, drought, and intense heat waves will increasingly confront the continent at a worsening rate. African nations should not be expected to take the lead in addressing a climate emergency they did not create. The priority for Africa is to receive support and investment to build resilience and adapt to climate impacts.

The foregoing analysis is analogous to the Nigerian situation where transnational litigation has been utilised by a plethora of stakeholders including local communities, civil society organisations (CSOs) and victims of environmental injustice arising from the activities of oil MNCs in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. CSOs in Nigeria have adopted litigation as a deliberate strategy in influencing the activities of government and MNCs in the oil and gas sector.

This blog focuses on the legal and institutional framework for Marine Renewable Energy development in Nigeria. The blog examines Nigeria’s MRE potentials and how their maximization will assist Nigeria meet her climate change mitigation obligation under international climate regime. It further examines the possible impacts of exploring MRE sources in Nigeria and how this venture may co-exist with already existing uses of the sea and natural oceanic environment so as not to entirely alter the bio-diversity of the marine environment. It also examines emerging issues with MRE development in Nigeria. Finally, it makes suggestions on how Nigeria can develop an MRE legal framework that can balance all the competing interests.

The most recent rush for African land was accompanied by a literature rush on contemporary global land grabs comprised of a fast-growing body of reports matrices, articles and books. Responding critically to this literature rush, scholars are increasingly calling for a more robust and grounded methodology to link macro-level insights to more local level analyses. The edited volume The Transnational Land Rush in Africa: A Decade after the Spike answers these calls by taking a decidedly macro-level approach to the global land rush, without sacrificing nuance and country-specific historical, political and legal context. It does this in part, by investigating the impact of large-scale land investments in various African countries over time, considering not only the decade since their spike, but also the varied colonial and post-colonial histories that have shaped them.