What looked like mere projections of alarming events caused by climate change are becoming real.
Years back, scientists in the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels projected that climate change caused by global warming would cause an increase in temperatures, rise in sea levels, drought, and floods and other events that would cause untold suffering amongst inhabitants of affected regions.
This threshold is significant as the Paris Agreement on Climate Change aims to limit global warming to ‘well below 2 °C, preferably below 1.5 °C recognising the increased risks associated with exceeding this limit.
Scientists gathered in Pretoria, South Africa, from November 28 to 29, 2024, confirmed these projections, reporting that Southern Africa has already experienced a 2°C increase in temperatures. Additionally, countries such as Botswana and Zambia are nearing a 3°C rise, far exceeding the global 1.5°C threshold.
The gathering in Pretoria was one in a series of Thematic Workshops that SASSCAL is hosting in its member states to share information regarding the 2.0 Research Programme. The workshop was held under the theme “Strengthening Climate Data Services to Enhance Climate Change Response,” and it is aligned with South Africa’s SASSCAL Centre of Excellence for Climate Data and Services.
The main objective of the workshop was to share scientific research progress of the SASSCAL 2.0 research portfolio, linking the specialised research communities with stakeholders to share and respond to specific research needs expressed by the stakeholders.
Specifically, the meeting aimed to present SASSCAL 2.0 projects results, focusing on the Climate Data and Services; identify existing research gaps, challenges and opportunities, explore opportunities for future utilisation of research innovations in the Climate data and Services in South Africa; and strengthen stakeholders’ relationships between researchers and end users within SASSCAL 2.0 research portfolio.
During the event, SASSCAL’s former Executive Director Dr. Jane Olwoch noted that the region needs to strengthen its response in the face of reality.
“Year after year, climate impacts worsen, yet our response remains inadequate,” she said challenging scientists, industries, banks, governments, and civil society to confront the reality of climate change head-on and emphasised the need for local -driven resilience strategies.
Professor Francois Engelbrecht, a climate change expert and TIPPECC’s main Principal Investigator sounded the same warning of the region surpassing the 1.5°C global threshold. He said such levels of warming have triggered frequent heatwaves, declining water levels, declining soil moisture, impacting crops and livestock, erratic rainfall patterns and flooding in some areas. These are potentially resulting in irreversible changes. He referred to this as reaching global and regional tipping points, indicating limited options for adaptation.
Below is a highlight of SASSCAL’s role in addressing climate change:
For the past 12 years, SASSCAL has strengthened institutions and the region’s capacity in climate change research and the provision of climate services delivery.
The organisation owes these achievements to funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), GMES and Africa, SASSCAL Member states namely; Angola, Botswana, Germany, Namibia, South Africa, and Zambia and partnerships with research communities, universities, and policymakers.
Earlier, the organisation implemented the SASSCAL 1.0 Research Programme between 2012 and 2018, during which it generated 88 research tasks and 230 peer-reviewed publications. It also produced a number of graduates including 227 Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, and 33 doctorates during its implementation phase. These activities were implemented with funding worth €23 million from SASSCAL’s main funder, BMBF.
Furthermore, under the SASSCAL 1.0 research portfolio, infrastructure was set up, and proper networks were established with universities, research institutions and industries.
Under the SASSCAL 2.0 Research Portfolio, which is currently being implemented with €10 million funding from the BMBF, 13 Research Projects and 54 subprojects are underway. Also, the programme has sponsored over 100 students.
GMES and Africa provided funding of €3.2 million to SASSCAL to implement the Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Service for Transboundary Basins (WeMAST) Project with 8 consortium partners, in SADC. This funding also sponsored 20 students and facilitated the establishment of numerous networks.
With €43 million in funding from the BMBF for the Green Hydrogen Project, SASSCAL successfully implemented the H2ATLAS initiative. This initiative engaged 80 participants across 12 SADC countries and included the involvement of 12 young scientists from Jülich, Germany.
Additionally, 200 young Namibians are currently receiving training under the Youth for Green Hydrogen Scholarship Programme. The Daures Green Hydrogen Project, the only one of its kind in Africa, is also underway. Meanwhile the SASSCAL Graduate Studies Programme in Integrated Water Resources Management (SGSP-IWRM) through SASSCAL’s Centre of Excellence for Water Resources Management in Namibia has enrolled 13 PhD students drawn from SASSCAL member states.
It is envisaged that by 2025, SASSCAL’s Angola Centre of Excellence for Food Security, Agriculture and Land Management will also carry out a graduate studies programme.
In terms of the provision of climate services, BMBF has provided SASSCAL with additional funding to repair 164 Automatic Weather Stations located in five (5) member states after becoming worn out while others were reported to have been vandalised. SASSCAL is grateful to BMBF for the continued project funding and to SASSCAL member states for their financial support for SASSCAL operations and their political support.
The achievements of SASSCAL are a true example of the power of partnerships between BMBF and SASSCAL’s five member states. Several projects under SASSCAL 2.0 Research Programmes presented milestones of their projects. The SASSCAL South African National Node implements nine out of 13 projects namely; ANTELOPE, Climate Smart Crops, FRAME, FoSReCS, PLANT PROPERTIES, RIBS, SUSTAIN and TIPPECC.
SASSCAL 2.0 Research Portfolio in South Africa also supports 9 Students (5 MSc, 3 PhD and 1Post-doc), 6 Institutions and 10 Subprojects in areas related to SASSCAL’s thematic areas of Food Security, Water Security, Biodiversity Conservation, Woodlands and Forest Sustainability, and Climate Services.
The workshop output outlined the achievements of the SASSCAL 2.0 research project in responding to the research needs in Climate data and Services; provide feedback information on the existing gaps, challenges and opportunities to inform project implementation and spell out an enhanced stakeholder engagement plan that informs future engagement opportunities.
The workshop brought together SASSCAL 2.0 Project Principal Investigators, SASSCAL-supported students, government officials, policymakers, climate change researchers, as well as SASSCAL management and staff. A similar workshop took place in Botswana from 20 – 21 November 2024, with additional workshops planned for Angola, Namibia, and Zambia.
