Thank you very much.

I will speak in French, my mother tongue.

I would like to begin by talking to you about Africa and global warming.

Africa is one of the regions of the world that has contributed the least to the historical greenhouse gas emissions that are responsible for human-induced climate change. Per capita emissions are the lowest in the world there. However, the effects of climate change that are being observed there are very significant, and they are likely to get worse in the future.

The latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, includes an entire chapter on Africa. It shows that an increase in average and extreme temperatures, more frequent heat waves and prolonged droughts, particularly in southern Africa, have already been observed. Even though there are fewer observations than for other parts of the world, many of those changes can be attributed to the human effect on the climate.

It is projected that global warming will lead to an intensification of these changes, which in turn will have consequences such as more extensive flooding, the risk of worsening drought in some regions, such as southern Africa, northern Africa and the western Sahel, as well as tropical cyclones, which may become more intense. Heat waves are also expected that could expose populations to potentially deadly conditions.

All of these current and future changes pose a serious threat not only to these countries' economies, infrastructure, food security and health, but also to African ecosystems.

I'll give you a few examples.

On the economic front, it is estimated that climate change has led to a reduction in economic growth in Africa and an increase in income inequality, not only among African countries, but also between northern African countries and the rest of the continent.

In terms of food systems, it is estimated that climate change has already led to a decrease in animal productivity, which is likely to intensify in the future.

Climate change has also negatively impacted the health of millions of Africans owing to warming temperatures, extreme weather and the spread of infectious diseases.

In African cities, rapid urbanization and the lack of infrastructure adapted to population growth contribute to increasing the exposure of populations to climate risks, especially in coastal areas. All these risks lead to climate migration, which is a reality today, even though most climate-related migration in Africa occurs within countries, such as rural-to-urban migration, or between neighbouring countries, rather than to higher-income countries.

All these observations really underscore the urgency of implementing adaptation measures on the continent to reduce those risks today. The most effective measures include adaptation approaches that integrate gender, equity, and African indigenous knowledge and local knowledge, as well as the development of early warning systems, agroecology and agricultural planning.

However, Africa has a feasibility problem in terms of adaptation measures. The continent faces numerous technological, institutional, cultural and financial obstacles, as well as obstacles related to certain countries' security. Moreover, if global warming becomes too intense in Africa, adaptation conditions could quickly be exceeded.

Despite the high risk of global warming on the continent, there are ultimately many gaps in our knowledge and research on adaptation effects and strategies in Africa. This lack of knowledge is linked not only to a lack of weather and ecosystem data available in this region, but also to very little funding for African research.

For example, from 1990 to 2020, only 3.8% of global climate-related research funding was allocated to Africa. And yet there are initiatives, in Canada as in France, aimed at research.

In Canada, I'm thinking of the climate adaptation and resilience initiative, or CLARE, a partnership between Canada and the United Kingdom. This initiative aims to promote sustainable and socially inclusive action to build resilience in Africa, particularly for the populations most vulnerable to climate change.

France has the Institut de recherche pour le développement, an interdisciplinary scientific institute that operates in partnership with the tropical zone and the Mediterranean zone. It is active in many African countries. It focuses on the science of sustainability, serving society stakeholders, and it tries to offer solutions.

This concludes my presentation.

Thank you again for the invitation to appear today. I look forward to your questions.