Policy Brief 2: Vulnerability to Climate Change in Africa Challenges and Recommendations for Africa

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change defines climate vulnerability as ‘the degree to which a system is susceptible to, and unable to cope with, adverse effects of climate stress, including climate variability and extremes.’ Africa is highly vulnerable to climate change mainly because of its strong economic dependency on climate-related activities and products and low adaptive capacity. This low adaptive capacity is linked to weak economies, weak institutions and inadequately developed governance structures.