Systemic failures in north–south climate change knowledge transfer: a case study of the Congo Basin

Nago, Minette; Krott, Max

doi:10.1080/14693062.2020.1820850

Cited by 19 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…For example, faculty committees at lead institutions often value lead or corresponding author positions more highly which drives Northern research partners to seek prominent authorship positions and leadership roles on collaborations rather than more readily make these positions available to developing country researchers (Hedt-Gauthier et al, 2018). Researchers at Northern institutions may also select research questions and shape outputs for a Northern audience rather than providing actionable insights on climate change issues of concern to local partners (Nago & Krott, 2020), particularly if those local partners and institutionsunlike Northern institutionsare unable to commission subsequent research. Positioning African institutions as secondary to their Northern counterparts thus reinforces unequal relationships and obstructs co-production of the knowledge needed to address climate and environmental risks (Trisos et al, 2021;Vincent et al, 2020).…”

Section: Recipients Of Africa-related Climate Research Fundingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Funding flows for climate change research on Africa: where do they come from and where do they go?

Øverland

Sagbakken

Isataeva

et al. 2021

Climate and Development

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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 topicsa 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.

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Section: Recipients Of Africa-related Climate Research Fundingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Funding flows for climate change research on Africa: where do they come from and where do they go?

Øverland

Sagbakken

Isataeva

et al. 2021

Climate and Development

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“…As a result, the need to strengthen national capacities is shared by all countries" (UN 1992) Capacity is therefore understood as the ability to chart a course, and to make and implement the decisions indicated by this course. This involves being able to create strategies and policies, and to formulate the types of institutions and mechanisms that are needed in order to achieve specific goals that have been identified out of the realities of particular contexts (Mulugetta, 2007;Segage, 2018). The notion of capacity is tightly tied to self-reliance and self-determination, and goes beyond the narrow approach of training, education, and technical assistance (Kaplan, 2000).…”

Section: Capacity and Development: Getting The Fundamentals Rightmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the late 1970s and early 1980s, after the severe drought that affected the Sahel and in the context of the 'Appropriate Technology' movement initiated by predominantly northern NGOs, we thought that lack of appropriate technologies was the critical barrier for development and focused on disseminating energy technologies in rural Africa. Energy is indeed deeply implicated in each of the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of development, but as we would find out, energy solutions also need to be contextualized (Mulugetta, 2007;Sokona et al, 2012). Inspired by programmes in India and China we initiated rural community biogas projects in the Sahel.…”

Section: Capacity and Development: Getting The Fundamentals Rightmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…You cannot create a development agenda for Africa in the United States, or Europe, or elsewhere. It must be created in Africa and through a social process that will involve its people (their skills, ideas, knowledge, talents, and creativity), its institutions (economic, social and political), and its organizations (public, civil society, community, and private) (see Mulugetta, 2007). The continuous process by which a society can enhance its ability to identify and meet its development challenges in a sustainable manner requires ownership and commitment with a strong participatory, bottom-up, and inclusive approach (Segage, 2018).…”

Section: Capacity and Development: Getting The Fundamentals Rightmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Building capacity for ‘energy for development’ in Africa: four decades and counting

Sokona

2021

Climate Policy

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Since the establishment of the Climate Convention and its recent Paris Agreement, capacity building has been considered as a fundamental prerequisite for achieving the goals of the climate regime. Various institutional architectures have been explored, while the 2015 Paris Climate Conference (COP21) established the Paris Committee on Capacity-Building aiming to address needs and gaps, along with promoting current, emerging, and further capacity-building efforts. Efforts to build capacity have been underway for decades but have largely failed in their objectives as they were not designed from, and rooted in, the local context. Drawing from the author's more than 40 years of personal experience in capacity building in Africa, this paper sheds light on the systemic challenges involved in building capacities. Arrangements that do not entail working on, or being led by, an agenda set by those in capacity needs are not, by definition, capacity mobilization or capacity building efforts. It is argued that capacity is tied to selfreliance and self-determination and thus ability to set and pursue the recipient's own agenda must be at the core of development narratives. Key policy insights:. Self-reliance and self-determination are at the core of capacity development. Therefore, countries need to set and pursue their own agenda by creating and following a bottom-up and inclusive development narrative.. Intellectual, financial, and other important resources need to fall under the control of local leadership.. Partnerships and networks of research centres think tanks and similar institutions in the South should be created and maintained to build capacities.. Climate change, while a global issue, must be addressed based on a deep understanding of the local and national contexts.

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“…There seems to be growing deforestation and poverty in Congo Basin forests and regions, despite flowing aid. We refer to this sober development as the 'the Congo Basin paradox 1 ' (Mvondo 2009;Nago and Krott 2020;Nago and Ongolo 2021;Trefon 2010). This observation has been extensively investigated.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of aid agencies within environmental cooperation in Congo Basin: facilitators or policy entrepreneurs?

Nago

2021

Development Studies Research

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Environmental cooperation in the Congo Basin region is facing a paradox as the region has an inflow of aid but deforestation and poverty continue to grow. We examine the role of aid agencies in this paradox, who we assume are policy entrepreneurs who influence and benefit from the process. To test these assumptions, we use policy entrepreneurship theory coupled with a comparative qualitative approach to conduct two case studies. The first case study is a climate change adaptation capacity building initiative with the German aid agency GIZ in the central role. We prove that GIZ led the project with high effectiveness, benefit from it but failed to align the initiative's goals with the local needs. The second case study is the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP), which functions without an aid agency in the central role. We observe that although the CBFP's actions strongly matched local needs, it lacked some effectiveness and could not yield relevant policy outcomes. Therefore, we suggest that suboptimal institutions meeting a minimum standard in both management and orientation toward local needs should be built.

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Systemic failures in north–south climate change knowledge transfer: a case study of the Congo Basin

Cited by 19 publications

References 29 publications

Funding flows for climate change research on Africa: where do they come from and where do they go?

Funding flows for climate change research on Africa: where do they come from and where do they go?

Building capacity for ‘energy for development’ in Africa: four decades and counting

The role of aid agencies within environmental cooperation in Congo Basin: facilitators or policy entrepreneurs?

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