AFRICAN ECONOMIC RESEARCH CONSORTIUM (AERC)
International Conference on Natural Resource Management, Climate Change and Economic Development in Africa:
Issues, Opportunities and Challenges

CALL FOR PAPERS ON:
Climate Change and Economic Development

The African Economic Research Consortium is hereby calling for papers for presentation at an international conference on Natural Resource Management, Climate Change and Economic Development in Africa. Papers are particularly solicited from AERC network members, but anyone with relevant experience and credentials in the topic area is invited to submit their work. Qualified women are urged to send papers, and research teams are encouraged.

The scientific consensus on climate change has grown substantially in recent years. Indeed, the adverse effects of climate change are already evident, natural disasters are more frequent and more devastating, and developing countries more vulnerable. Findings of research undertaken by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) suggest that human activities are altering the climate system and will continue to do so. The Earth’s surface temperatures have increased and associated impacts on physical and biological systems are increasing. Climate change is thus bringing about numerous environmental changes, including sea level rise and shifts of climatic zones because of higher temperatures and altered precipitation patterns. Increased frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events such as droughts, floods and storms is being observed and may be attributed to climate change – and mainly human induced climate change. These extreme weather events have both short-term and long-term socioeconomic and political consequences, including food insecurity; the displacement of people; the destruction of infrastructure such as houses and roads; soil erosion; damage to farms and crops; and increased spread of endemic water- and vector-borne diseases. The ravaging effects of drought persist in the desert areas of sub-Saharan Africa. Communities living in these regions are continuously in a state of poverty and, as much research has shown, are as a consequence prone to civil strife and political turmoil.

Although the effects of climate change may be positive as well as negative, minor as well as severe, depending on the region in Africa, the adverse effects will be unprecedented. A variety of technology options is being made available to restrain the growth of carbon emissions, along with approaches to sequestering greenhouse gases in forests, soils and oceans. But these alternative technological options are not cheap and in fact may be very costly, and thus are unlikely to be widely implemented unless measures are taken to lower their prices. The costs (both economic and social) associated with climate change therefore reaffirm the need for African policy makers to take climate change seriously into account in development planning. This is particularly relevant in SSA, where over 60% of the population derive their livelihoods from agriculture and where recent figures indicate that GDP growth has not significantly reduced the devastating poverty in the region. The knowledge vacuum on the economic as well as social impacts of climate change on Africa’s development prospects is large.

Policy makers require accurate data to make informed decisions about climate change. To provide that evidence base and at the same time build a critical mass of African researchers capable of undertaking policy relevant research in this area, AERC is seeking to mainstream climate change issues into its thematic research spectrum. Research findings should contribute to raising political awareness that can trigger action. Accordingly, AERC also envisages a series of collaborative research projects to provide guides for policy aimed at responding to the issues, challenges and opportunities presented by the climate change and economic development nexus.

To kick-start the process, AERC will convene an International Conference on Climate Change and Economic Development as part of its 20th Anniversary activities. For presentation at the conference, papers are invited in the following areas:

1. Climate Change , Poverty, Income Distribution and Labour Market Issues
2. Climate Change, Macroeconomic Policies, Investment and Growth
3. Climate Change, Finance and Resource Mobilization
4. Climate Change, Trade and Regional Integration
5. Political Economy and Sectoral Issues in Climate Change and Economic Development

Papers will ultimately be published as the proceedings of the conference. The papers should be in English and should not exceed 15,000 words in length (approximately 30 pages of 11pt type at 1.5 line spacing). Anyone with relevant experience and credentials in the topic area is invited to submit their work. Qualified women are urged to send papers, and research teams are encouraged. The AERC publications style guide, The Publications Variable, is available on the website at Click here