On November 9, 2022, during the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt (November 6-20, 2022), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) released the report "Nuclear Technology and Climate Adaptation in Africa", which introduced the important contribution of nuclear science and technology to Africa's adaptation to climate change.  

Climate change is already having a serious impact on many parts of the world.  Africa is the lowest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world, but it is already experiencing multiple impacts from climate change, including reduced biodiversity, reduced food production and slower economic growth.  Facing the threat of severe drought, high temperatures and extreme weather, Africa urgently needs to improve its resilience.  In this respect, nuclear technology can play an important role.  

1. Iaea Action on climate adaptation  

Adaptation to climate change requires a wide range of structural, social and institutional efforts aimed at improving resilience and reducing vulnerability.  The IAEA's expertise and experience can contribute to global climate adaptation in many areas, including land use and management, climate-smart agriculture, food production systems, greenhouse gas emission analysis, water resources management, coastal protection and ocean change monitoring.  Nuclear technology can be applied in these areas as a complement to traditional climate adaptation and climate science and technology.  The IAEA has provided a comprehensive methodology for analysing the causes and effects of climate change and has undertaken a number of international cooperation projects aimed at helping countries adapt to climate change, 42 per cent of which are in Africa. 

The overall objective of the IAEA's climate adaptation work is to contribute to global adaptation to climate change through research and technical cooperation in nuclear science and technology.  In general, the IAEA contributes to global adaptation to climate change in five main aspects: first, strengthening the capacity of member states in nuclear science and technology to support climate adaptation;  Second, to strengthen the protection of the natural environment and biodiversity;  Third, improve the utilization efficiency of natural and agricultural resources and raise productivity;  Fourth, to provide tools and strategies for strengthening consumer protection;  Fifth, to provide a reliable basis for national governments to make decisions.  

2. African experience and challenges  

The report analyzes the experience and challenges of using nuclear technology to help Africa adapt to climate change in three aspects.  

One is the Marine ecosystem.  Africa's Marine fisheries are under serious threat from climate change.  In this regard, the IAEA, through its Marine Environmental Laboratory, promotes research and technical cooperation to address the problems of harmful algal blooms, ocean acidification and blue carbon, and transfers related nuclear technology to member States.  Blue carbon refers to the processes, activities and mechanisms that use Marine organisms to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and fix it in the ocean.
The second is water resources.  The instability of high temperatures and precipitation has led to water shortages for irrigation in Africa and adversely affected hydropower generation.  The frequent occurrence of extreme weather has made the water security of a large number of African people insecure.  The IAEA assists countries in finding water sources by tracing the movements of water molecules in the water cycle using isotope hydrology to help address water scarcity.  The technology is also being used to study changing precipitation patterns, reduced surface water bodies, groundwater vulnerability and deteriorating water quality around the world. 

Third, food production.  Climate change has led to more droughts and other extreme weather events, reducing food production in Africa and causing a food security crisis.  This will require increasing agricultural productivity, improving crop varieties, improving soil fertility, improving soil and water management programmes, and improving crop protection practices, all with a view to protecting the environment.  In response to land degradation and water scarcity, IAEA uses isotope technologies to support water and fertilizer management in dryland agriculture.  Iaea cooperates with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on crop genetic improvement and yield enhancement, implementing breeding programmes and developing new varieties that can adapt to extreme growing environments.  The two agencies are also working together to establish food safety laboratories in more than 30 countries in Africa to optimize market access by using nuclear and isotope technologies to detect and control toxicity of agricultural chemicals.  

3. Continue to scale up assistance  

Over the years, the IAEA has actively provided assistance to African member States to help them advance the deployment and application of nuclear technology and support climate change adaptation actions.  From 2012 to 2021, the IAEA has assisted 45 African countries through 238 technical cooperation projects and provided financial support of about 54 million euros.  In 2022, the IAEA launched 53 new climate change adaptation projects in Africa.  In the future, IAEA will continue its active cooperation with the African Union (AU) on the safe, secure and peaceful uses of nuclear energy for sustainable development in the African region, and establish useful partnerships with African countries,  Cooperation in sustainable land use, climate-smart agriculture, food production systems, greenhouse gas emission analysis, water resources management, Marine and coastal protection.