Water and Politics in Africa

       Hi dear reader,       I hope you enjoyed my last post on the Kala Fleming Ted Talk . How to write a blog about “Water and Politics” without dealing with the last COP26 that took place in Glasgow (Scotland) from 31 st October to 12 th November? So, let's take a closer look at this conference together!      To begin with, let's list again the major water-related climate changes that should have been so many red flags prompting the participating leaders to formulate ambitious new commitments at COP26. In her article published in The Guardian  on 10 th November 2021, the journalist Sarah Johnson recalls that according to this 2016 study , “two-thirds of the global population, four billion people, faced water shortages, and many were at increased risk of floods and droughts brought on by the climate crisis”. Beyond the increasingly frequent and extreme floods and droughts, she also mentions the change in rainfall patte...

       Hi !      I hope you enjoyed reading my previous post on climate migrants! Today, I'm writing to share with you a very inspiring Ted Talk in which Kala Fleming of IBM Research Africa explains her idea of "digital aquifers" which is closely related to our "Water and Development in Africa" module! After studying and working in the United States many years, Kala Fleming is now based in Kenya. The video that you can find below is entitled "Easing Water Scarcity by Understanding When and Where it Flows". Kala Fleming's Ted Talk - TED@IBM - October 2015      Her thesis is that the virtual digitalization of groundwater enables not only better planning and distribution but also offers much improved economic growth opportunities. According to her, there is not a lack of water in Africa. This reminds me of the statement of Claude Jamati ("Africa does not lack water") on whose work ( L'Afrique et l'eau , 2014 ) I focused among ot...

     Hello!       After having tackled the issue of the very political financing of water infrastructures in Africa, we are going to reflect today on the legal status of climate refugees. I chose to focus on this topic because it also intersects with environmental change. Moreover, the notion of "climate refugee" was unclear to me and I thought it was crucial to clarify it as COP 26 approaches.       According to a report published by UC Berkeley's Othering & Belonging Institute  (2019), "Ethiopia accounts for less than 1 percent of total global CO2 emissions, but it faces particularly intense effects of the climate crisis." For example, "in 2015, Ethiopia experienced one of its worst droughts in 50 years due to the failure of two consecutive rainy seasons. This drought led to increased food insecurity and the displacement of 280,000 people" (p. 22). The fact that the countries that have contributed the least...