Lead staff member: Professor Lindsay Stringer

Other project team members: Professor Andy Dougill (co-I), Dr Susie Sallu (co-I), Dr Matthew England (Post-doctoral Research Fellow). The research to date also received input from Dr Lisa Ficklin (Post-doctoral Research Fellow, now Lecturer at the University of Manchester), Dr Steven Orchard (Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Leeds), Dr Claire Quinn (Leeds), Dr Philip Antwi-Agyei, KNUST, Ghana) and Mr Ben Wood (PhD student, Leeds).

 

The Mainstreaming Climate Compatible Development in Africa project aims to improve understanding of the ways in which adaptation, mitigation and development can be balanced and mainstreamed within policies focusing on agriculture, forestry, energy and water sectors. It also critically assesses whether conceptually, climate compatible development offers a new development landscape, or whether it’s ‘more of the same’ for Africa. Particular attention is given to policy trade-offs to identify whether pursuing adaptation, mitigation and development together can lead to multiple benefits. We also consider how mitigation and adaptation are being incorporated into decision-making in natural resource based sectors and in other environmental agreements dealing with related problems such as land degradation.

Geographical focus in this project is on southern Africa, defined as those countries part of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC). The region is not a major emitter of greenhouse gases but due to its land area and low levels of development, it presents many opportunities for cost-effective mitigation. At the same time, the region is one of the world’s most vulnerable, making adaptations to climate change and variability vital. Balancing adaptation and mitigation challenges and opportunities is vital in determining viable development pathways in the short-, medium- and long-term.

Approach/methodology:

The project uses policy analysis methods alongside the collection of new field data through the use of interviews, focus groups and workshops. Field data collection has taken place in Swaziland, Malawi and Tanzania and has involved a range of stakeholders including government representatives, local communities and Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) staff.

 

Major completed outputs to date:

• Stringer LC, Sallu SM, Dougill AJ, Ficklin L and Wood BT in press 2017 Reconsidering Climate Compatible Development as a New Development Landscape in southern Africa. Nunan F. (Ed). “Climate Compatible Development”
• Orchard SE, Stringer LC in press 2016. Challenges to polycentric governance of an international development project tackling land degradation in Swaziland. Ambio doi: http://dx.doi.org/doi:1007/s13280-016-0791-8
• Wood BT, Dougill AJ, Quinn CH, Stringer LC. In press 2016. Exploring power and procedural justice within climate compatible development design: whose priorities are being considered? Journal of Environment and Development

Forthcoming outputs include:

• Ficklin L, Stringer LC, Dougill AJ, Sallu SM. Climate Compatible Development reconsidered: Calling for a critical perspective. Submitted to Climate and Development
• Antwi-Agyei P, Dougill AJ, Codjoe SN, Stringer LC, Dovie DB, Adiku SG. Framing and interplay of climate compatible development across multiple policy sectors in Ghana Environmental Science and Policy