Climate-related crises are becoming endemic across the African continent. Climate change has underlined the need for Africa to build greater resilience, transforming its economies towards higher value-added production, building its energy infrastructure, and boosting agriculture productivity while increasing Africa’s food and nutrition
security.
This policy paper argues that Africa needs to mainstream climate change into its development strategy by advancing climate-resilient development through several pathways including: renewable energy and transformative green industrialization; agriculture, food, and nutrition security and climate change adaptation; strengthening its development finance institutions; engaging in multilateral fora such as the World Trade Organization (WTO); and asserting its agency in contributing to a compact on a global green new deal.
The publication is part of a series of policy papers commissioned by TESS with partners on Developing country perspectives on trade, climate change, and sustainable development, which includes papers on Africa, the Caribbean, South America, South Asia and Southeast Asia. Each paper has been prepared by experts and institutions from the region and seeks to highlight regional and developing country perspectives and priorities on the role of international trade cooperation in supporting climate mitigation and adaptation and climate-resilient sustainable development.
While many discussions are now taking place on trade and climate change at the WTO and in a range of other international settings, most are dominated by concerns, policies, and proposals from more advanced economies. In an effort to spur a more inclusive dialogue, the series supports the bottom-up identification and formulation of developing country perspectives and priorities on trade and climate change adaptation and mitigation including how to advance them at the regional and multilateral levels.
African countries can promote the idea of a Global Green New Deal in order to build a global consensus on a developmental outcome in the current crisis of governance in the spheres of trade, finance, and climate change and their relationship to each other.
Faizel Ismail
Recommended citation: Ismail, F. (2022). Trade and climate-resilient development in Africa: Towards a global green new deal. Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs (TESS)
Developing Country Perspectives at the WTO's 2022 Public Forum
You can view this video of a working session on regional perspectives on trade and climate change co-hosted by TESS and regional partners at the WTO's 2022 Public Forum. The video includes a discussion of African priorities with the author Faizel Ismail.
This paper is co-published with
Developing Country Perspectives
This publication is part of a series of policy papers commissioned by TESS with partners on Developing country perspectives on trade, climate change, and sustainable development.
