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Open green innovation is essential to accelerate decarbonization in Africa. The dearth of empirical evidence on the current trajectory of green innovation in Africa often hinders appropriate green innovation policy design. This study investigates the incidence of collaboration in inventive activities within Africa using the 'designation of the inventor' in the online European Patent database. We identify and assess open and closed climate adaptation and mitigation inventions using explorative and network analysis techniques. Our research shows that even though climate change adaptation technologies are more valuable, climate change mitigation technologies are more responsive to open innovation. We also discovered that the number of green inventions is slightly increasing, but there are very few collaborative open green inventions in Africa as many of the inventions are closed. These results accentuate the fragmented national innovation systems in many African countries. The lack of collaboration and the disconnect between universities and firms shows that most African knowledge institutions have not evolved into vibrant sources of firm learning for national economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: African countries are among the most vulnerable and affected by climate change. Comprehending climate change poses a major hurdle for the African population, politicians, and the African Union alike, presenting a substantial challenge for all involved. It is generally accepted that universities and other higher education institutions must play a leading role as drivers of change. Therefore, it is very important that African universities educate students about both mitigation and adaptation measures, develop the necessary initiatives to foster research in climate change-related topics and promote cooperation and alliances with key stakeholders. Results: This research reports on a study aimed at identifying the extent to which higher education institutions in Africa are engaging in efforts to deal with the challenges posed by climate change. The objectives were accomplished through a mixed method approach, incorporating a review of literature, an international survey, and the inclusion of selected case studies from African universities that have developed successful initiatives. The research has brought to light significant disparities, such as varying perceptions regarding the potential outcomes of climate change and its associated extreme events in African countries. In addition, the study highlighted areas where there is a notable consensus on specific issues. It also offers a comprehensive view of the different strategies that universities are implementing to contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation in several areas. Although there is a growing interest in the need to contribute to the joint task of mitigating the effects of climate change and adapting to its consequences, HEIs need to increase their efforts to enhance the work of their professors and researchers. To this end, the involvement of public authorities and other private sector actors is essential. Conclusions: This article outlines some actions that need to be undertaken so that universities may play a more active role in global efforts to handle the problems associated with a changing climate. There is a notable focus from academic actors on addressing climate change challenges in Africa. In addition, there is a proactive emphasis on utilizing science and research to comprehend climate change issues and offer widely applicable tools for adaptation and mitigation to safeguard both people and the environment. Consequently, it is crucial and time-sensitive for African universities to enhance their expertise in the field of climate change, fostering the capacity to conduct innovative research that addresses the various challenges linked to the evolving climate. This study offers several useful lessons for African universities to replicate experiences that have generated results in different countries and contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While Moringa oleifera Lam. is gaining importance in Africa, especially sub-Saharan Africa, it is unclear whether research is following the quick pace of its development on the continent. Therefore, this article analyzes the landscape of research dealing with moringa in Africa. This systematic review draws upon 299 eligible articles identified through a search carried out on the Web of Science in April 2023. Research on M. oleifera is rather recent in Africa but interest is increasing among scholars. While the research field is multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral, the literature seems to focus on biological and environmental sciences. Moreover, research is performed mainly in South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, and Ghana. The analysis suggests a significant potential contribution of moringa to food security and nutrition, climate change mitigation/adaptation, farming systems resilience, and livelihoods. Its versatility and diverse applications and uses make moringa particularly interesting for developing countries, such as African ones. However, this review also underscores some factors hindering its development. Therefore, there is a need to strengthen research on moringa to unlock its potential in Africa. Investments in research, innovation, and development can help address the many challenges that Africa faces and contribute to the transition towards sustainable and resilient food systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing recognition of hydrogen as a critical element in the global net-zero transition and its clear role in decarbonizing challenging sectors coincide with the growing urgency to address climate change. Africa's favourable renewable-energy capacity, ranging from 28% to 36% for solar, has been reported by the global solar irradiance index. However, the majority of hydrogen production today relies on fossil fuels (96%), with only a small fraction (4%) being produced through water electrolysis. Even though there have been many studies on climate change mitigation with a focus on Africa, a green hydrogen production from a photovoltaic power station approach has not been reported. Also, literature with a focus on Nigeria is lacking. This study focuses on the African green hydrogen production industry, utilizing Nigeria as a case study to explore the feasibility of generating clean hydrogen vectors from a percentage of photovoltaic power output in various regions of the country through stand-alone solar grid electrification projects. Analyses of the usage and effectiveness of the produced hydrogen fuel in each region are carried out, with the highest region having an annual output of 12 247 278 kg of green hydrogen and 8 573 094 kg of ammonia and the lowest region having an output of 511 245 kg of green hydrogen and 357 871 kg of ammonia, and the expected production from the proposed usage of 50% of the power generation output of the installed 1.6-MWp and 80-kWp solar power minigrids in the regions is calculated. The analyses were repeated for the other considered regions in the country. The results showcased the enormous advantages of the electrolytic production of hydrogen and how the greener economy project can play a major role in mitigating climate change effects and overreliance on fossil fuels as the driver of the economy in many African countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of the REgional Carbon Cycle Assessment and Processes Phase 2 (RECCAP2) project, we developed a comprehensive African Greenhouse gases (GHG) budget covering 2000 to 2019 (RECCAP1 and RECCAP2 time periods), and assessed uncertainties and trends over time. We compared bottom-up processbased models, data-driven remotely sensed products, and national GHG inventories with top-down atmospheric inversions, accounting also for lateral fluxes. We incorporated emission estimates derived from novel methodologies for termites, herbivores, and fire, which are particularly important in Africa. We further constrained global woody biomass change products with high-quality regional observations. During the RECCAP2 period, Africa's carbon sink capacity is decreasing, with net ecosystem exchange switching from a small sink of -0.61 ± 0.58 PgC yr-1 in RECCAP1 to a small source in RECCAP2 at 0.16 (-0.52/1.36) PgC yr-1. Net CO2 emissions estimated from bottom-up approaches were 1.6 (-0.9/5.8) PgCO2 yr-1, net CH4 were 77 (56.4/93.9) TgCH4 yr-1 and net N2O were 2.9 (1.4/4.9) TgN2O yr-1. Top-down atmospheric inversions showed similar trends. Land Use Change emissions increased, representing one of the largest contributions at 1.7 (0.8/2.7) PgCO2eq yr-1 to the African GHG budget and almost similar to emissions from fossil fuels at 1.74 (1.53/1.96) PgCO2eq yr-1, which also increased from RECCAP1. Additionally, wildfire emissions decreased, while fuelwood burning increased. For most component fluxes, uncertainty is large, highlighting the need for increased efforts to address Africa-specific data gaps. However, for RECCAP2, we improved our overall understanding of many of the important components of the African GHG budget that will assist to inform climate policy and action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Calls for humanity to act on environmental changes are becoming increasingly critical. The growing polycrisis including the impact of ongoing conflicts in contested geopolitical spaces and the struggles for ways to sustain a livelihood in areas of precarity and poverty, are just some of the intersecting challenges which have given rise to a Code Red alarm by the United Nations surrounding issues related to climate change. Rich narratives and stories of climate actions from Africa offer examples of potential paths. This paper explores how such narratives inform local development and climate action. A key message is that stories and narratives, created by various peoples, disciplines, and systems of knowledge, can all be powerful genres and sources for agentic change that can inspire and embolden development practice and action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change disputes are on the rise globally, being brought against both States and corporate actors, and before judicial, quasi-judicial, and increasingly, non-judicial fora. While only a handful of cases have been successfully brought in Africa to date, the emerging and increasingly sophisticated policy, legislative and constitutional frameworks seeking to tackle Africa's extreme vulnerability to climate change impacts – coupled with the introduction of specialised environmental courts – render the region particularly fertile for future climate-related claims. In this article we offer some reflections on (i) jurisdictional 'hotspots' where claimants have been especially active in bringing disputes so far in the region; (ii) recent cases in Africa that fall in-step of the broader international trend of NGOs and environmental defenders using litigation to address climate governance gaps, identify and prevent environmental risks and promote human rights; and (iii) evolving and emerging categories of Africa-inspired climate change disputes, such as claims brought against parent companies in the English courts concerning alleged harms caused by African subsidiaries, or energy transition-related investment disputes before arbitral tribunals. We also share horizon-scanning insights on how disputes before non-judicial international fora are expected to rise (for example, before OECD National Contact Points and the UN Special Procedures mechanism). We further note how African courts are demonstrating an increased willingness to provide judicial resources and a platform for NGOs to intervene as third-party observers of climate cases, enabling them to provide expert perspectives on novel aspects of climate impacts on human rights to be taken into account in judges' decision-making. Furthermore, we predict that the NGOs and environmental activists already active in launching strategic climate litigation in other jurisdictions (namely North America, Europe, and Australia) are likely to make considerable efforts in developing regions like Africa, towards capacity-building of the judiciary instead. For example, NGOs have already signalled intentions to continue working with local lawyers and communities to draft, bolster, interpret and enforce new or existing legislation or constitutional rights, with a view to holding State and corporate actors to account for contributing to climate change without adequately safeguarding human rights and the environment while pursuing their investments and/or operations. We conclude with a recommendation to all affected stakeholders, whether as a prospective claimant, respondent, or third-party intervener in such cases, to seek advice from counsel who have experience advising clients in cross-border climate change-related disputes. Despite an enormous potential for such disputes in the region, because only a small number have been brought before the local courts in African states to date, potentially impacted stakeholders will need to carefully scrutinise decisions adopted in North America, Australia, and Europe for interpretative guidance on how African judges may approach similar cases domestically (for example, the recent decision by the European Court of Human Rights in Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz and Others v. Switzerland). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The association between economic growth and environmental degradation is well documented. However, the link between business climate and ecological footprint remains an open question. This paper therefore explores the extent of the influence of business climate on environmental degradation in Africa. The impacts of business climate are estimated in a panel of 35 African countries observed over the period 2006–2018, using ecological footprint to account for environmental degradation. Panel spatial consistent correlation estimation technique, system generalized method of moments and method of moment panel quantile regression are used to estimate the model. The results show that business climate contributes to environmental degradation in developing economies. A 1% increase in business climate distorts environmental quality by 17.8%. The study reveals that although many development experts often encourage the ease of doing business policy, it does not come without its own potential damaging repercussion for the ecological environment. The paper contributes to the empirics by suggesting a new model that integrates the quantitative impacts of business climate on ecological footprint. Policymakers need to understudy how business firms can incorporate a better responsiveness toward the ecosystem. An improvement in business activities monitoring can help to mitigate the ecological footprint issues in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efforts to avoid the acceleration of global warming have tended to focus on countries with high CO 2 emissions levels and large populations, with a high level of economic development or industrialization. African countries, which often do not conform to such criteria, are more vulnerable to climate change due to their dependence on climate-sensitive industries and their limited infrastructure and technological capacity to cope with its impacts. The long-term economic growth rates projected for Africa's rapid development period will, further, make Africa a potential emission hotspot in the near future. Here, for the first time, we built an energy-related emissions inventory for 19 African countries for 2010–2019, which addresses emissions from 47 economic sectors and 5 energy types, making it the most comprehensive of its kind. The degree of decoupling of economy and emissions, and drivers of CO 2 emission changes are also examined. Most African countries experienced rapid growth in CO 2 emissions, with an average annual growth rate of 5.5% for fossil fuel-related CO 2 emissions and 6.0% for unsustainable biomass-related CO 2 emissions. Only two countries, South Africa and Tanzania, have achieved a strong decoupling of economic growth from CO 2 emissions. Economic and population are the most important drivers of emissions, while energy intensity has been identified as a key factor in mitigating CO 2 emissions, especially for those countries that have reached strong or weak decoupling. The findings from this study provide essential insights that could guide the development of low-carbon policies and strategies in Africa. • We provide energy-related emission inventories for 19 African countries from 2010 to 2019. • African countries experienced rapid growth in CO2 emissions. • Two countries achieved strong decoupling of GDP from CO2 emissions. • Economic and population growth are the most important drivers of emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local governments are expected now more than ever to lead climate action planning as climate change intensifies and urbanization increases rapidly. However, studies indicate limitations in the comprehensiveness and level of integration of adaptation and mitigation in existing climate action plans. To develop suitable climate action plans that are comprehensive and consistent with globally accepted standards and benchmarks, this study proposed an Urban Climate Action Planning framework and pilot-tested it with 257 urban climate action plans. Overall, 43 criteria are included in the framework across three stages of climate planning. The pilot test revealed that more than half of the sampled plans have a medium level of suitability, with 39% having a weak level of suitability. About 51% of plans from Europe have a weak level of suitability. Surprisingly, none of the plans sampled from Africa and Latin America achieved a weak level of suitability despite lacking a significant share of global climate research and development funding. A Kruskal-Wallis test shows a statistically significant association between stages of climate planning and (a) city types (p-value of 0.004326) and (b) year of adoption or publication of climate plans and suitability scores (p-value of 0.0001027). Urban climate action plans adopted or published more recently (2018–2022) are likely more suitable than those adopted or published earlier. The sampled urban climate action plans from the Global South had higher average suitability scores than those from the Global North. The study presents key findings and considerations for urban climate action planning and future research. [Display omitted] • A framework for assessing the suitability of Climate Action Plans (CAPs) is proposed. • The framework is used to pilot-test the suitability of 257 urban CAPs. • Suitability analysis is done across city types, regions, and the global divide. • Most sampled plans achieved a medium level of suitability. • The CAPs lack criteria related to implementation and monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]