Lindsey Jones (ODI) and Nicola Ranger (DFID) reviewed the findings of a study on climate change planning and grappled with the ethics around providing climate information to Africa decision makers.
How is climate change being factored into long-term investments and planning decisions in Africa? This was one of the key questions asked of a 12-month study, led by the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN), for the Future Climate for Africa (FCFA) programme.
So what did we find? Well, it turns out that, by and large, the issue of climate change isn’t being factored into long-term plans. This might be worrying and frustrating to some, but if we take a step back for a moment, on what ethical grounds are we standing when we tell African decision makers how to make up their minds?
FCFA is a new 4-year research programme, funded by the Department of International Development (DFID) and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). Its objective is to improve scientific understanding and prediction of climate change in Africa, and by working with African decision makers, bring this information into use in informing more resilient development policies, planning and investments.”
Source: UKCDS