Douala: FAO holds sub-regional talks on climate resilience of coastal cities.

The forum gathered about 50 participants drawn from municipal leadership, national administrations, technical experts, sub-regional bodies and civil society organisations, who reflected on a shared concern over the growing impacts of climate change on coastal zones.

According to the organisers, the diversity of stakeholders highlighted the importance of collective action in addressing climate-related challenges that increasingly threatened coastal communities and ecosystems.

The discussions took place in the aftermath of the recent global climate conference in Belém, Brazil, where world leaders called for urgent action to address climate damage, particularly coastal erosion, and committed to scaling up climate financing for developing countries. Against this backdrop, the forum emphasised the need for faster decision-making and concrete actions to enhance the resilience of Central Africa’s coastal cities and ecosystems.

It should be noted that Central Africa’s coastline stretches over 3,500 kilometres and includes vast exclusive economic zones rich in mangroves, coral reefs and seagrass beds. According the participants, these ecosystems play a vital role in food security, employment and income generation, while supporting key sectors such as maritime transport, fisheries, tourism, agriculture and energy.

In addition to this, the coastal areas host an estimated 70 percent of the sub-region’s population, including major urban centers such as Douala and Kribi in Cameroon, Libreville and Port-Gentil in Gabon, Pointe-Noire in Congo, Malabo and Bata in Equatorial Guinea, São Tomé, and cities along Lake Tanganyika in Burundi.

As a results of this, experts warned that despite their importance, these cities remain highly vulnerable to sea-level rise, recurrent flooding, coastal erosion, biodiversity loss and extreme weather events. These pressures already resulted in the loss of homes, livelihoods, infrastructure and essential services, threatening economic stability and social well-being.

FAO Central Africa Representative, Oumar Ndiaye, recalled the immense potential of the region, noting that inaction against flooding and erosion could have led to GDP losses of up to 3.6 percent annually by 2050.

“Productive systems, particularly agricultural ones, including urban agriculture, especially market gardening, but also other economic activities related to fishing, port infrastructure, etc., are being disrupted by the advancement of the sea at the same time” he explained.

“That is why FAO has thought, it be good to intelligently work with academics, researchers, to build a regional program that should allow for better addressing the resilience of coastal cities and ecosystems in Central Africa in the face of climate change,” Oumar said. 

Stressing on the impact of Climate on the ecosystem, Joseph Armathé Amougou, General Manager of Cameroon’s National Observatory on Climate Change, stressed that more than 85 percent of the country’s industrial activities were concentrated along the coast, making sea-level rise a direct threat to the national economy. “Climate change is a reality.” He echoed, adding that; “One of the vulnerable area for climate change is the impact on Biodiversity, which is a real threat to out ecosystems”

In the same light, Dr. Paul Tchawa, Secretary General at Cameroon’s Ministry of Environment, Nature Protection and Sustainable Development, described coastal environments as highly sensitive and fragile, citing challenges such as relocating road infrastructure inland and growing tensions between artisanal fishing and tourism.

“Coastal erosion is threatening infrastructure, there are roads that have had to be rebuilt further inland, we are under the threat of pollution, there are traditional activities like artisanal fishing that are being squeezed because our activities for tourism are taking precedence,” he said. 

The forum served as a platform for assessing vulnerabilities, sharing experiences in adaptive governance as it saw the presence of city mayors from the coastal cities of the countries, mobilising resources and strengthening cross-border cooperation. 

FAO reaffirmed its commitment to supporting Central African countries in placing climate resilience at the center of sustainable development and food security, while expressing appreciation to Cameroon and all partners involved.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3663 of Sunday January 04, 2025