Overview
The first habitat-and-environment initiative within HIC started in Africa, with Malick Gaye starting up the Habitat and Sustainable Environment Network (HSEN) in 1992, in the context of the 1st Environment and Development Conference in Rio. The Rio conference was preceded by the 1st Stockholm UN Conference on the Human Environment, which some consider to be where HIC was originally conceived, but actually born at Vancouver in 1976.
The Habitat International Coalition Africa (HIC-Africa) Habitat and Environment Working Group proposes to host a 1-hour 30-minute online dialogue during Urban October to discuss the impacts of climate change in African urban areas, focusing on the resulting loss and damage. This dialogue will spotlight three major cities Nairobi, Lagos, and Kampala illustrating the severe effects of climate-induced floods and rising temperatures. The event aims to highlight not only the immediate effects of climate change but also related losses and damages, which are particularly faced by vulnerable populations in urban areas of Africa.
Background
As urbanization intensifies across Africa, cities are becoming hotspots for climate change impacts. Extreme weather events such as floods, heatwaves, and rising temperatures are increasingly common. In Nairobi, Kenya, recurrent flooding disrupts lives, destroys infrastructure, and exacerbates inequalities. Lagos, Nigeria, faces annual flooding during the rainy season, leading to displacement, loss of property, and economic strain. Kampala, Uganda, is experiencing rising temperatures that not only impact public health but also aggravate existing environmental degradation and contribute to loss and damage.
