Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa (Volume 14, No.6, 2012) ISSN: 1520-5509 Clarion University of Pennsylvania, Clarion, Pennsylvania ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE: CRITICAL REFLECTION ON THE AFRICAN CONTINENT Ayodele Temitope Raphael, Olanrewaju Oludolapo Akanni and Jimoh Abdul-Ganiyu Adisa Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, South Africa ABSTRACT Climate change is possibly the greatest environmental challenge facing the world today and its impacts is already a reality in Africa. The various impacts of climate change have led to many unfortunate natural disasters in various parts of the continents, including Africa. In this paper, an overview of global warming and climate change is first presented. Views of the international community on ways to overcome the climate change through different programmes are highlighted. Various issues regarding the effects of climate change on Africa development are discussed. The expectations of Africa’s political leaders in the face of global warming and climate change are highlighted. Africa’s challenge will be to promote a sustainable development into concrete policies to mitigate the continent’s climate change. With the expectations and shortcomings of African leaders regarding climate change, this paper will be useful in the creation of awareness on the need for necessary intervention from Africa’s political leaders. Keywords: African continent, Africa’s leadership, Climate change, Energy, global warming, Green house gas, sustainable development. INTRODUCTION Human race cannot survive without energy; it is one of the most fundamental parts of our universe. Over the years, there has been increase in energy consumption (Tverberg, 2012). This is due to our insatiable desires for better quality of life, increasing in population growth and the technological advancement (Jimoh, 2011). In the past, it was believed that universe could continuously be exploited without consequences. Today, climate change is a reality attesting to the fact that we were wrong. Climate change will have significant impact on development, poverty alleviation and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) (Lagos, Wirth, & El-Ashry, 2009). It is believed that if the issue of climate change is carelessly handled, it will slow down or even retard the progress already made in achieving global goals as new threat emerge to public health, agricultural production, water and food security (Lagos, et al., 2009). Figure 1 shows the huge increase in world energy consumption that has taken place in the last 200 years. This rise in energy consumption is primarily from increased fossil fuel use. The relationship between the population growth and the energy consumption is shown in Figure 2. The figure shows that there is a positive correlation between population and energy consumption. 84