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Biography |
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Professor Salif Diop has worked at the United Nations, in UNEP’s Division of Early Warning and Assessment (DEWA), for the past 16 years as Senior Officer. His water expertise is in coastal oceanography, freshwater assessment, aquatic and marine issues, sustainable management and development. He earned a Third Cycle Doctorate in 1978 from The University Louis Pasteur in Strasbourg, France, and a State Doctorate in 1986. He served a yearlong sabbatical as a Senior Fulbright Scholar in the Division of Biological and Living Resources at The Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences of the University of Miami, Division of Biological and Living Resources, in 1986/87. He is a member of multiple expert and working groups, including at numerous scientific and research institutions. He has published more than 60 peer reviewed articles and seven books as main author or co-author, and was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize Certificate in 2007 for his contributions to the IPCC. In addition to his research articles, he has also contributed 170 technical documents, research reports, monographs, theses, abstracts and book reviews. He is a University Professor, and has served as one of the Vice-Chairs of the International Lakes Environment Committee Foundation (ILEC) Scientific Committee since November, 2016 and member since Sept 2019 of the High Level Panel Expert Group for a Sustainable Ocean Economy; Sustainable Ocean Initiative of the World Resources Institute. He was named a Member of the National Academy of Sciences and Techniques of Senegal in 2006, a Member of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) in 2009 and a Member of The World Academy of Sciences for the Advancement of Sciences in the Developing Countries (TWAS) in October 2010. Personal website: http://www.esalifdiop.org
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Abstract |
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“Knowledge on coastal and oceans sciences into the decision-making process in Africa with the example of expected climate change impacts on oceans economy in West Africa” |
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Nowadays, oceans and coasts are recognized as vital environments for sustainable development and prosperity of Africa, since they provide jobs, food security, ecosystems services and important source of recreation and spiritual value to millions of people on the continent; indeed, more than 40% of the population are located within 100 km from Africa’s coastline.
However and despite the enormous resources they are constantly providing for Africa, oceans are increasingly under threat with the major challenge of climate change that indeed is already affecting many African coastal countries, including an increase in concentration of atmospheric CO2 and other greenhouse gases related to human activities from the combustion of fossil fuels; which led to the acidification of about 30% of ocean surface waters compared to pre-industrial times. The reduction of dissolved oxygen and the warming of the oceans are two other important factors related to man-made releases and emissions of CO2 that contribute to degrade oceans around Africa and beyond.
Warming of ocean’s waters particularly surface waters (between 0 m and - 600 m) and its consequences in terms of “de-oxygenation”, acidification, changing of oceans’ patterns, circulation and disturbances including their negative impacts on upwelling’s, on the resources – fisheries and aquaculture among others - and other physical elements of the oceans and coasts including sea level rise…are affecting West African oceans waters
Moving into the solutions space supposes to take practical actions (considering further aspects related to ethics and equity with the risks to further impoverish many more people located on coastal areas. This means to concretely tackle upfront the essential issue of carbon footprints reduction as well as the financing of adaptation and mitigation to further limit global warming impacts on the oceans, hence stimulate innovation and demand for “green technologies as well as blue economy”.
The negative impacts of warming of oceans’ waters on marine resources and ecosystems as well as its biodiversity pose serious threats of our oceans and need to be debated if one would like to avoid severe degradation with larger losses on oceans resources in the very near future. Linkages are cleared with SDG’s 14 and 12 of United Nations Agenda 2030 in particular, as well as African Union 2063 Agenda and 2050 Africa’s Integrated Marine Strategy/AIMS.
Indeed, emphasis should be put nowadays on aggressively curbing greenhouse gas emissions to reduce the impacts of climate change on the ocean economy, especially in Africa’s and SIDS’s regional areas. Largest polluters are the largest winners under climate change and they should take leadership in curbing substantially their GHG emissions. In this regard, it is important to refer to the IPCC report 1.5 degree where it is said that “limiting global warming to 1.5 degree implies reducing of carbon dioxide by about 45% by 2030 compared to 2010 levels with the goal to reach net zero around 2050”. The impact of climate change on vulnerable populations and the opportunities for adaptation/mitigation is a key issue, considering the role of industrial nations in curbing greenhouse gas emissions.
One more evidence that scientific knowledge is essential for negotiators in order to clearly identify the need to address the issue of vulnerable populations at higher risks (including indigenous people) who are dependent on coastal and marine livelihoods…….
In view of Africa's limited level of advancement in the field of marine sciences in many countries, it becomes necessary to boost the advancement of marine science with a particular emphasis on research and training, science and technological innovation development, communication and scientific information and to better integrate knowledge into the decision-making processes in terms of public policies for ocean management and governance in Africa.
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