SDG Centre for Africa 2019). Furthermore, most countries in SSA (and practically
all countries in southern Africa) do not have any established legal framework for
e-waste (ITU, 2017). An example has been the attempted ban on the imports of used
air conditioners, television sets and fridges in Ghana 2012, which failed to receive
public support.
Finally, as with other SDGs, the lack of data is a major obstacle for achieving
meaningful progress in the implementation of SDG12 (SDG Centre for Africa 2019).
This lack of reliable and comparable data prevents even the understanding of the
baseline conditions of the current consumption/production patterns and waste generation levels, and thus the starting points and the tasks at hand. As mentioned
throughout this chapter, this points to the underlying lack of capacity and available
funds to develop technical expertise in these domains, as well as appropriate data
collection, storing and sharing mechanisms.
1.2.13 SDG 13: Climate Action
SSA countries have a rather low contribution to global GHG emissions compared to
other regions of the world (Hogarth et al., 2015; Adzawla et al. 2019). In fact, with
per capita GHG emissions standing at 2.7 or 3.9 tonnes CO2eq (depending on
whether land-use change and forestry is taken into account), SSA has the lowest
GHG emissions in the world (Hogarth et al., 2015). Only South Africa ranks among
the top 20 global GHG emitters (SDG Centre for Africa 2019), with most countries
emitting less than 2 tCO2eq/cap (JRC 2017). However, despite its low contribution
to global emissions, SSA is one of the regions expected to be hit the hardest by
climate change (and associated climatic hazards) due to the comparatively higher
risk of exposure and poor adaptive capacity (IPCC 2014; Engelbrecht et al. 2015;
Müller et al. 2011; Kendon et al. 2019; Serdeczny et al. 2017). Despite evidence that
the strength and periodicity of these hazards are likely to increase throughout the
continent (IPCC 2014), the fraction of the population that is expected to be affected
by such hazards varies substantially between countries (Fig. 1.12). Most countries
have ratified the Paris Agreement
9 and have put in place a series of Intended
Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) and National Adaptation Plans
(NAPs) (UNFCCC 2018). The pledged INDCs and NAPs vary by country in their
strategies, targets, levels of ambition and priority sectors (e.g. see Table 1.2).
One of the major challenges for successfully adapting to climate change would be
reducing the vulnerability of agrarian communities and urban areas (Davis et al.
2017; Kahsay and Hansen 2016; Middleton and Sternberg 2013). In both cases,
climate change can have cascading effects on multiple SDGs, but through rather
different pathways. For instance, frequent recurrent droughts in rural areas have
caused water scarcity, crop failure, livestock death and eventually collapse of
9 Except for Angola, Eritrea, Liberia, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea and South Sudan.
28
D. Juju et al.
all countries in southern Africa) do not have any established legal framework for
e-waste (ITU, 2017). An example has been the attempted ban on the imports of used
air conditioners, television sets and fridges in Ghana 2012, which failed to receive
public support.
Finally, as with other SDGs, the lack of data is a major obstacle for achieving
meaningful progress in the implementation of SDG12 (SDG Centre for Africa 2019).
This lack of reliable and comparable data prevents even the understanding of the
baseline conditions of the current consumption/production patterns and waste generation levels, and thus the starting points and the tasks at hand. As mentioned
throughout this chapter, this points to the underlying lack of capacity and available
funds to develop technical expertise in these domains, as well as appropriate data
collection, storing and sharing mechanisms.
1.2.13 SDG 13: Climate Action
SSA countries have a rather low contribution to global GHG emissions compared to
other regions of the world (Hogarth et al., 2015; Adzawla et al. 2019). In fact, with
per capita GHG emissions standing at 2.7 or 3.9 tonnes CO2eq (depending on
whether land-use change and forestry is taken into account), SSA has the lowest
GHG emissions in the world (Hogarth et al., 2015). Only South Africa ranks among
the top 20 global GHG emitters (SDG Centre for Africa 2019), with most countries
emitting less than 2 tCO2eq/cap (JRC 2017). However, despite its low contribution
to global emissions, SSA is one of the regions expected to be hit the hardest by
climate change (and associated climatic hazards) due to the comparatively higher
risk of exposure and poor adaptive capacity (IPCC 2014; Engelbrecht et al. 2015;
Müller et al. 2011; Kendon et al. 2019; Serdeczny et al. 2017). Despite evidence that
the strength and periodicity of these hazards are likely to increase throughout the
continent (IPCC 2014), the fraction of the population that is expected to be affected
by such hazards varies substantially between countries (Fig. 1.12). Most countries
have ratified the Paris Agreement
9 and have put in place a series of Intended
Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) and National Adaptation Plans
(NAPs) (UNFCCC 2018). The pledged INDCs and NAPs vary by country in their
strategies, targets, levels of ambition and priority sectors (e.g. see Table 1.2).
One of the major challenges for successfully adapting to climate change would be
reducing the vulnerability of agrarian communities and urban areas (Davis et al.
2017; Kahsay and Hansen 2016; Middleton and Sternberg 2013). In both cases,
climate change can have cascading effects on multiple SDGs, but through rather
different pathways. For instance, frequent recurrent droughts in rural areas have
caused water scarcity, crop failure, livestock death and eventually collapse of
9 Except for Angola, Eritrea, Liberia, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea and South Sudan.
28
D. Juju et al.