Overview

-Definition of key Terms

-Climate Change and Global
Economic Linkages
-Climate change in Africa
-Rwandan Context
-Climate change and sustainability
-Conclusion
-References

Definition of Key Terms

1. Climate: is the average pattern of weather

determined by measuring temperature,
precipitation, atmospheric pressure and wind
over a long period of time.
The climate pressure also results from the
interaction of many other variables, the most
important of which are the latitude, height
above sea level, topography, and proximity to
oceans or large water bodies (Fry et al, 2010).

2.

Climate change: is the long term (more

than 30 years time period) shift in weather
patterns in a specific region or globally.
The climate change can occur naturally
such as solar radiation, ocean currents,
volcanic eruption etc.
It can also occur through human activities
which pollute our atmosphere.

. Global economy: The world global

economy is the economy of the world,
considered as the international exchange
of goods and services that is expressed in
monetary units of account (money).

4. Sustainable Development: is social

and economic development that is

conducted without depletion of
natural resources.

Climates Change and Global Economic

Linkages

The climate change is very

linked to economic growth.
Sometimes the climate change
depends mostly on human
economic activities located in
our earth.

They

are

clear

parallelism

between

anthropogenic activities mostly from the

developed countries to the climate change
of our atmosphere.
The accumulation of fossil fuels, nitrogen

gases, aerosols have

great impact on

atmosphere pollution and direct impact on

climate change of our earth.

The

main effect of anthropogenic activities is

the increase of CO2 concentration in our
atmosphere over time.
The global economic is normal based on
industrialization sector and this sector
contribute effectively in GHGs production and
polluting our atmosphere.
The most important GHG, is carbon dioxide,
CO2 currently constitutes 64.3% of the global
warming potential. Other contributors are
methane (from agricultural sources), and land
deforestation, SO2 from volcanoes eruption
etc.

Without technology products from

industrialization, economic rates of

countries must decrease.
The increasing of industrialization
sectors, population growth and
global economic are normal affect
to global climate change.
Unfortunately, the climate change is global
and it risk is affected to all living things on
the earth including our continent.

It may lead to very different impacts in

different countries, depending on local/regional

environmental conditions and on differences in
vulnerability to climate change independent of
the contributions to climate change of these
countries.
In addition, the developing countries are more
vulnerable on climate change than developed
countries through to different capacity level of
mitigation and adaptation.

The table below shows how the biggest countries

contribute more the co2 emission in the atmosphere

II.2

What

climate

change

means

for

Africa

Habitat and ecosystem in Africa are currently

under threat from a variety of stresses such as
deforestation, land degradation and heavy
dependence on biomass for energy.
In sub-Saharan Africa over 80 percent of the
population depends on traditional biomass for
cooking (United Nations, 2007).

The key vulnerable sectors identified by IPCC (2007b)

include

agriculture,

food

and

water.

- Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to suffer the most

not only in terms of reduced agricultural productivity
and increased water insecurity, but also in increased
exposure to coastal flooding and extreme climatic
events, and increased risks to human health.
- Africas vulnerability to climate change is
exacerbated by a number of non-climatic factors,
including endemic poverty, hunger, high prevalence of
disease, chronic conflicts, low levels of development
and
low
adaptive
capacity.

The average income per capita in most African

countries is now lower than it was 30 years

ago.
Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region that has
had negative annual growth of per capita gross
domestic product (GDP), 1 percent between
1975 and 1999, compared with 6 percent for
East Asia and the Pacific and 2.3 percent for
South Asia.
One-third of the people in sub-Saharan Africa
suffer from chronic hunger (FAO, 2007) This is
linked to land degradation.

Other non-climatic factors adding to

Africas vulnerability include :

Heavy dependence on primary products
Fast-growing population
Leading to pressure on already degraded

landscapes
Poor governance and weak institutions
Low capital investment and lack of access to
foreign markets
Poor infrastructure; inadequate technology

The photo shows the impact of climate change in Africa

(IPCC,2007b).

III. SITUATION OF RWANDA ON CLIMATE CHANGE

AND SUSTAINABLEDEVELOPMENT.

Rwanda remains highly vulnerable to climate

change, which threatens to reverse the gains
made unless concerted efforts are made at
national and local levels to mitigate climate
change and adapt to its effects.
Environmental degradation and climate change
have been recognized, at the highest political
level, as major barriers to realizing Rwandas
medium and long-term development aspirations.

The environment and climate change sub-

sector lies at the heart of the Economic

Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy
(EDPRS).
A considerable proportion of the countrys
economy is derived directly and indirectly
from environmental resources (Agriculture
contribution to GDP is 32% in 2012) More
than 85% of the population derive their
livelihoods from agriculture.

As

a country whose population largely

depends on the
provisioning of natural
ecosystems, restoring the ecosystems damaged
by many decades of mismanagement and
increasing population pressure is an important
prerequisite for poverty reduction.
Rwanda Environment Management Authority
(REMA) has been leading the national
response to climate change, working with
stakeholders to build adaptation capacity at all
levels.

Indeed, these guidelines have been prepared as

part of the on-going efforts to build national

resilience and capacity to mitigate and adapt to
climate change and its effects.
It is committed to effectively controlling

pollution, conserving biodiversity, and

restoring productive ecosystems as well as
responding to the challenges of climate change.

IV CLIMATE CHANGE AND SUSTAINABLE

DEVELOPMENT
There is a dual relationship between sustainable

development and climate change.

On one hand, climate change influences key natural
and human living conditions and thereby also the
basis for social and economic development.
While on the other hand, societys priorities of
sustainable development influence both the GHG
emissions that are causing climate change and the
vulnerability.

Impacts

from global climate change are

extensive and varied, from prolonged droughts,
floods, severe weather.
These are likely to result in serious food
shortages, increases in vector-borne diseases,
infrastructure damage, and the degradation of
natural resources upon which livelihoods are
based.
These effects of climate change can not allow
the success of sustainable development and
global economic of population.

The negative impacts of climate change will hit the

poor people and poor countries disproportionately

where the rich who are most responsible for
triggering climate change will be less affected.
Its adverse impacts will be most striking in the
developing nations because of their dependence on
natural resources, and their limited capacity to adapt
to a changing climate.
Within these countries, the poorest, who have the
least resources and the least capacity to adapt, are
the most vulnerable (African Development Bank et
al., 2003)

V. CONCLUSION
At any level or capacity of countries, climate change is

global issues, all countries are concerned for mitigating,

adaptation and make international partnership on climate
change mitigation.
The countries which have contribute more on climate
change must contribute more to the developing countries
especial in capacity building , mitigation and adaptation of
this negative effect as they are more vulnerable.
The link between climate change, global economic and
sustainable development stems is good topic which can
helps us to look at all angles of our life prosperity and our
effect to climate change, natural effect with purpose of
sustain our economic , social and environment.

We have to accelerate the reforestation and afforestation.

-Improve management of agricultural oils increase carbon
storage.
- Reducing greenhouse gases produced from industries
and other sources
- Increasing surface reflectivity to cool the earth
- Increasing the atmosphere reflectivity.
-Etc.

References:
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 2007a. Climate change 2007: the physical science basis.
REMA. (2011). Guidelines to mainstream climate change adaptation and mitigation in the energy and infrustructure sector.
Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC. Cambridge, UK, Cambridge University
Press (2007).
Fry J; Graf H; Grotjahn; Raphael M; Saunders C and Whitaker R..2011. The encyclopedia of Weather& Climate change:
Adlard Coles Nautical. London.
IPCC. 2007b. Climate change 2007: impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth
Assessment Report of the IPCC. Cambridge, UK, Cambridge University Press.
United Nations. 2007. The Millennium Development Goals Report 2007. New York, USA.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 2006. Beyond scarcity: power, poverty and the global water crisis. Human
Development Report 2006. New York, USA.
UNDP. 2007. Fighting climate change: human solidarity in a divided world. Human Development Report2007/2008. New York,
USA.
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). 2008. Atlas of our changing environment. Nairobi, Kenya. Available at:
na.unep.net/atlas .
World Bank. 2008. Data and statistics. Internet document. Available at go.worldbank.org/WVEGH5U9W0
World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED). 1987. Our common future. Oxford, UK, Oxford University
Press.
U.S. Global Change Research Program, Third National Climate Assessment, May 2014 Overview and Report Findings, p.7.
http://www.fao.org/docrep/011/i0670e/i0670e03.htm .

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