As global temperatures rise due to greenhouse gasses that have already gathered in the atmosphere, sub-Saharan Africa will have to deal with an unavoidable one degree temperature increase.

"At least 0.6 degrees (centigrade) of global warming appears unavoidable given how much greenhouse gas has accumulated in the atmosphere," said Guy Midgley, a chief scientist of South Africa's National Biodiversity Institute.

"The unavoidable regional warming is closer to one degree. Adaptation is going to be necessary," he said, during a regional briefing on the landmark Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change's fourth assessment report.

This could see the continent, whose marginal resources are already stretched, suffering more droughts, floods and less food as agriculture is affected by the rising temperatures.

Another of the report's authors, Pauline Dube, said a reduction in water sources represented one of the most pressing threats to countries in the region.

"South Africa and Botswana experience water stress. The city of Gabarone is severely handicapped and often construction has to stop. The city has to recycle water," said Dube, a senior lecturer in the University of Botswana's environmental science department.

The 1,500-page report, which has been developed over five years, was presented as a summary for policymakers, who have the power to find ways to adjust to the effects of climate change.

earlier related report
Italy urges united Africa aid policy
Tokyo (AFP) April 17 - Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi called Tuesday for Europe and Japan to coordinate aid to Africa in the face of China's increasingly visible presence in the continent.

"With regards to Africa, Europe and Japan should align in their communication and become closer," Prodi told students at the University of Tokyo, speaking through an interpreter.

"If we look at numbers, Europe and Japan together present a great deal more aid to Africa than China," said Prodi, the former head of the European Commission. "But when I talk to African leaders, they only talk about China."

China has become a growing investor and donor in Africa, although it has come under criticism in the West for supporting nations such as Sudan despite the mass killings in the Darfur region.

Prodi also called on European nations to focus on their relations with Asia.

"I think it is very important to direct the European Union's politics towards Asia. This is Asia's century... and Asia's revival will give support to the Mediterranean region," Prodi said.

Prodi met Monday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and agreed to put African development and global warming high on the agenda in upcoming summits of the Group of Eight industrialised nations.

China responded that it wanted all sides to cooperate on aid for Africa.

"We believe if other countries of the world want to collaborate on helping Africa, this is a good thing. No one side can exclude the other," foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said in Beijing.

"When China engages in economic, trade and cultural cooperation, it will not exclude any other side. We welcome any other countries, especially developing countries, to give a hand to Africa so that Africa can develop like other countries," he said.

Many observers view Beijing's overtures to Africa as motivated mainly by China's desperate need for oil and other resources to fuel its booming economy.

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