Over the past year the countries of Africa have intensified their efforts to build a coalition on climate change. Across the continent, governments and communities have been working to ensure that their concerns and expectations are heard at the Copenhagen climate negotiations later this month.

Africa is highly vulnerable to climate change. In our lifetimes, climate shifts will likely inflict severe damage to human welfare in a continent already battling with entrenched poverty, degraded ecosystems and civil strife.

But Africa’s potential to help tackle climate change is both largely unrecognized and unrealized. For instance, thanks to the forest cover and rich topsoil found in many African countries, the region represents a major carbon storehouse. African forests take in 20 percent of the carbon that is absorbed by trees across the world. Its soil stores at least as great a share of the planet’s carbon produced by agriculture.

Climate change management thus offers a number of “win-win” opportunities for African countries both to reduce the adverse effects of climate change and address some of their deep-rooted development concerns such as access to energy, food security and the prevention of crises and conflicts.

While these key issues should serve as the core pillars of Africa’s engagement in the negotiations, the next question is how to transform these opportunities into concrete actions and results.

Africa will require urgent support for the formulation of climate change strategies as well as upfront financing to take effective measures for adaptation and mitigation.

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