Introduction
In 2022, the Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission emphasized that “climate change is an existential threat to Africa’s communities, ecosystems, and economies.”[1] With average atmospheric temperatures exceeding the global target of 1.5°C, concrete collective action has become a global imperative. Across regional contexts, this remains especially true, given that climate change poses a developmental challenge. For instance, it has been observed that “[f]ood insecurity increases by 5–20 percentage points with each flood or drought in sub-Saharan Africa”.[2] By 2050, at least 140 million people will move internally within state borders because of climate change.[3] Of this population, at least 86 million will be from Africa. The World Health Organization further projects that climate change will result in “approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year, from undernutrition, malaria, diarrhea, and heat stress”[4] between 2030 and 2050.[5]
Recognizing this, the African Union has stressed that achieving the regional Agenda 2063 will be nearly impossible without addressing climate change.[6],[7] The primary aspiration of Agenda 2063, the continental blueprint on development, is to build “a prosperous Africa based on inclusive growth and sustainable development”.[8] The impacts of climate change on Africa’s development are increasingly evident across the continent. Given the need for collective regional solutions, an essential normative framework is “extraterritorial solidarity.”
Extraterritorial Solidarity: Rhetoric and Practice
Two fundamental facts underpin the notion of extraterritorial solidarity. First, climate change is a “tragedy of the commons.”[9] The issue is not restricted to a specific place. Solutions must reflect that collective actions by multiple countries have an important role to play in addressing the issue. Second, legally the continental rights-based regime frames the right to the environment as a collective right. Specifically, Article 24 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter) provides that “all peoples shall have the right to a general satisfactory environment favourable to their development.”[10]
Generally, in international law, states have jurisdiction over their territories. However, there have been situations where extraterritorial obligations have been noted; for instance, in situations where a state exercises ‘effective control’ in another state.[11] However, in DRC v Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda, and Association pour la Sauveguarde de la Paix au Burundi v Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zaire and Zambia, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights inferred that where an action by a state (A) has a human rights effect in another state (B), state (A) may incur responsibility for violation of human rights even where there is no effective control.[12] Moreover, the African Charter reinforces the relevance of solidarity in furthering human rights, expressing the need for states to realize development ‘individually or collectively.’[13] Integral to this is the need for extraterritorial solidarity as a framework for advancing Africa’s development, particularly in addressing climate change.
Applying this notion of extraterritorial solidarity in the context of climate change requires a shift from nationally oriented solutions to regionally driven imperatives. Embedded in this notion is the need to reshape the narrative on climate solutions as something that cannot be solely addressed at the national level. This narrative of extraterritorial or co-dependence already resonates at the continental level on democratic participation and human rights. This approach also impacts how African states are thinking about trade and continental mobility, reinforcing, for instance, ideas of collective citizenship. There are three practical imperatives in putting extraterritorial solidarity into action: law and policy, institutional arrangements and regional campaigns.
First, in the realm of law and policy, African policymakers can establish extraterritorial sovereignty in practice through a continental model law on peoples’ rights to a general satisfactory environment in Africa. This model law can be used for the formation of law and policy by African countries. An example of a model law is the Model Law on the Protection of Cultural Property and Heritage.
Second, in terms of leveraging institutional arrangements, African policymakers should create a technical working group that can support African countries in ensuring that the issue of climate change is addressed through extraterritorial solidarity. An example of a working group is the Africa Working Group on Disaster Risk Reduction.
Finally, African leaders should develop regional campaign(s) on climate change, emphasizing extraterritorial solidarity as an important approach. African leaders already set an annual thematic focus for the continent to advance action on issues of concern to Africa. For instance, 2025 was declared ‘Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations.’[14] This can be a good model and channel for furthering action with respect to climate change, as it provides political momentum for activities by stakeholders across the continent and beyond.
Climate change is a crisis that is becoming more salient by the day. As time goes on, without significant action, Africa will be hit the hardest by the cascading impacts of the global climate crisis. But as the earth’s atmosphere cannot be fenced, it is important to explore options that can drive collective action. Extraterritorial solidarity pushes the boundaries on traditional concepts of national jurisdiction and is the type of radical solution a crisis of this magnitude requires. If these three types of measures (law, institutional arrangements, and regional campaigns) are put in place by policymakers, it will enable concrete solutions to better mitigate the climate change crisis in Africa and provide a model for future extraterritorial endeavors.
[1] African Union Commission, “African Union Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022–2032)”, African Union Commission, 2022, Addis Ababa: Ethiopia, p.4. https://au.int/sites/default/files/documents/41959-doc-CC_Strategy_and_Action_Plan_2022-2032_08_02_23_Single_Print_Ready.pdf
[2] World Meteorological Organization, “Climate change triggers food insecurity, poverty and displacement” Africa Renewal, October 19, 2021, accessed April 3, 2024, https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/climate-change-triggers-food-insecurity-poverty-and-displacement-africa
[3] World Bank, “Groundswell: preparing for internal climate migration” March 19, 2018, accessed April 4, 2024, https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/2be91c76-d023-5809-9c94-d41b71c25635
[4] World Health Organization “Climate Change Fact Sheet”, October 12, 2023, accessed April 4, 2024, https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-and-health
[5] World Health Organization (Africa Region) “Climate change”, https://www.afro.who.int/health-topics/climate-change
[6] Ibid.
[7] African Union, “Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want”, 2015, African Union Commission, Addis Ababa: Ethiopia, https://au.int/sites/default/files/documents/36204-doc-agenda2063_popular_version_en.pdf
[8] Ibid, para 8, p.2.
[9] Maebh O’Gorman, “Global warming: a tragedy of the commons”, Comparative Research in Law and Political Economy, York University, Research Report No. 32/2010, https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1099&context=clpe
[10] African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, 1981, Article 24, https://au.int/sites/default/files/treaties/36390-treaty-0011_-_african_charter_on_human_and_peoples_rights_e.pdf
[11] See “Case Concerning Armed Activities on the Territory of the Congo (Democratic Republic of Congo v Uganda)”, Judgment, ICJ Report 2005, 168.
[12] See Communication No 157/96: “Association pour la Sauvegarde de la Paix au Burundi v Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zaire and Zambia”(2003). Also, Takele S. Bulto, “Patching the ‘legal black hole’: the extraterritorial reach of states’ human rights duties in the African human rights system”, Volume 27 SAJHR (2011): 249–278, 262.
[13] African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, 1981, Article 22(2). https://au.int/sites/default/files/treaties/36390-treaty-0011_-_african_charter_on_human_and_peoples_rights_e.pdf
[14] African Union, “2025: Year of Reparations: Justice for Africans and People of African Descent through Reparations”, 2025. https://au.int/en/theme/2025#:~:text=884(XXXVII)%20that%20the%20theme,the%20Accra%202023%20Reparations%20Conference