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Funding flows for climate change research on Africa

Where do they come from and where do they go

Bibliographic Data

ID21791879
AuthorsIndra Overland (0000-0002-5955-4759, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, corresponding author), Haakon Fossum Sagbakken (0000-0002-9445-047X, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs), Aidai Isataeva (0000-0002-3403-6189, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs), Galina Kolodzinskaia (0000-0002-4992-8411, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs), Nicholas Philip Simpson (0000-0002-9041-982X, University of Cape Town), Christopher H Trisos (0000-0002-5854-1489, University of Cape Town), Roman Vakulchuk (0000-0001-6829-8294, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs)
Year2022
Volume14
Issue8
Pages705-724
Publication date2022-09-14
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueClimate and Development (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1756-5529 • E-ISSN: 1756-5537
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17565529.2021.1976609
OpenAlexW3202542675
LanguageEN
Citations received20
References cited86

Africa has only contributed a small fraction of global greenhouse gas emissions yet faces disproportionate risks from climate change. This imbalance is one of many inequities associated with climate change and raises questions concerning the origin, distribution and thematic prioritization of funding for climate-change research on Africa. This article analyses a database comprising USD 1.51 trillion of research grants from 521 organizations around the world and covering all fields of research from 1990 to 2020. At most 3.8% of global funding for climate-change research is spent on African topics – a figure incommensurate with Africa's share of the world population and vulnerability to climate change. Moreover, institutions based in Europe and North America received 78% of funding for climate research on Africa, while African institutions received only 14.5%. Research on climate mitigation received only 17% of the funding while climate impacts and adaptation each received around 40%. Except for Egypt and Nigeria, funding supported research on former British colonies more than other African countries. The findings highlight the need to prioritise research on a broader set of climate-change issues in Africa and to increase funding for Africa-based researchers in order to strengthen African ownership of research informing African responses to climate change

Climate change · Development economics · Economic growth · Economics · Environmental resource management · Geography · Greenhouse gas · Political economy of climate change · Political science · Population · Sociology · Climate Change and Health Impacts · Climate change impacts on agriculture · Energy and Environment Impacts · Ecology

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Unique citing works20
Citations per year5
Citation span2022 - 2026 (5)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 19
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