State of Africa's Environment 2025

September 16, 2025

THE WORLD changed in more ways than one in 2024. It is the year that marks the beginning of the time of climate change—when each day some part of the world is hit by extreme weather events; when a new record of heat or cold stress is made and then broken; when communities already living on the margins of survival are devastated to the point of being unable to recover from the frequent disasters. This is a different era. Scientists describe this as the Anthropocene Epoch, which in geological time is defined as the period when human activities have significant impacts on the planet’s climate and ecosystems. Everything that we have done for human progress—for increased well-being and wealth generation—has breached national as well as planetary boundaries.

Africa is the hotspot of the planetary climate emergency. An analysis by Washington DC-based Brookings Institution said that seven out of the 10 most climate vulnerable nations in the world are located in Africa. The Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released in August 2021 poignantly summed up, “Over the past 60 years, Africa has recorded a warming trend that has generally been more rapid than the global average… the climate has changed at rates unprecedented in at least 2,000 years.” In fact, every third death (or 35 per cent) in the world from extreme weather, climate or water stress in 50 years was in Africa, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).