Climate change is an alarming global challenge, particularly affecting the least developed countries (LDCs) including Liberia. These countries, located in regions prone to unpredictable temperature and precipitation changes, are facing significant challenges, particularly in climate-sensitive sectors such as mining and agriculture. LDCs need more resilience to adverse climate shocks but have limited capacity for adaptation compared to other developed and developing nations. This paper examines Liberia’s susceptibility to climate change as a least developed country, focusing on its exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. It provides an overview of LDCs and outlines the global distribution of carbon dioxide emissions. The paper also evaluates specific challenges that amplify Liberia’s vulnerability and constrain sustainable adaptation, providing insight into climate change’s existing and potential effects. The paper emphasizes the urgency of addressing climate impacts on Liberia and calls for concerted local and international efforts for effective and sustainable mitigation efforts. It provides recommendations for policy decisions and calls for further research on climate change mitigation and adaptation.
References
[1]
Abeysinghe, A., & Barakat, S. (2016). The Paris Agreement Options for an Effective Compliance and Implementation Mechanism. http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep02659
[2]
Alfieri, L., Libertino, A., Campo, L., Dottori, F., Gabellani, S., Ghizzoni, T. et al. (2024). Impact-Based Flood Forecasting in the Greater Horn of Africa. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 24, 199-224. https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-199-2024
[3]
Allen, W. E. (2005). Historical Methodology and Writing the Liberian Past: The Case of Agriculture in the Nineteenth Century. History in Africa, 32, 21-39. https://doi.org/10.1353/hia.2005.0002
[4]
Azam, M. (2021). Are the UNFCCC Paris Agreement and the TRIPS Agreement Facilitating Access to and Transfer of Climate Technologies for the LDCs? Manchester Journal of International Economic Law, 18, 327-369.
[5]
Bird, G. (1980). Commercial Borrowing by Less Developed Countries. Third World Quarterly, 2, 270-282. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436598008419493
[6]
Bodansky, D. (2016). The Paris Climate Change Agreement: A New Hope? American Journal of International Law, 110, 288-319. https://doi.org/10.5305/amerjintelaw.110.2.0288
[7]
Browne, J., & Goldtooth, T. (2016). Paris Agreement Is “Dangerous Distraction”. Race, Poverty & the Environment, 21, 92-95. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44783052
[8]
Caijuan, G., Javeed Akhtar, M., Rehman, H. U., & Khan, K. A. (2024). Clean Energy Transition and Climate Vulnerabilities: A Comparative Analysis of European and Non-European Developed Countries. PLOS ONE, 19, e0297529. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0297529
[9]
Carrega, P., & Michelot, N. (2021). Great Vunerability with Human Concentrations on the Path of Floods. Physio-Geo, 16.
[10]
Chisale, H. L. W., Chirwa, P. W., Kamoto, J. F. M., & Babalola, F. D. (2024). Determinants of Adaptive Capacities and Coping Strategies to Climate Change Related Extreme Events by Forest Dependent Communities in Malawi. Wellbeing, Space and Society, 6, Article ID: 100183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wss.2024.100183
[11]
Clémençon, R. (2016). The Two Sides of the Paris Climate Agreement Dismal Failure or Historic Breakthrough? The Journal of Environment & Development, 25, 3-24. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26197961
[12]
Costa, L. L., Bulhões, E. M. R., Caetano, J. P. A., Arueira, V. F., de Almeida, D. T., Vieira, T. B. et al. (2023). Do Costal Erosion and Urban Development Threat Loggerhead Sea Turtle Nesting? Implications for Sandy Beach Management. Frontiers in Marine Science, 10, Article 1242903. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1242903
[13]
Cummings, A. R., & Martin, S. K. (2019). Identifying the Powers, Players, and Emotions Associated with REDD+ Implementation: The Case of Guyana’s LCDS. Ambio, 49, 1241-1255. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-019-01253-3
[14]
D’Orey, M. A. J. (2020). External finance for rural development: Country Case Study: Liberia. http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep51307
[15]
Derwent, H., Błachowicz, A., Hügel, J., Blanco, L. F., Xing, M. L. Y., & Franco, N. M. (2006). Analysis of the Paris Agreement. http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep15582.4
[16]
Eicher, C. K., & Baker, D. C. (1992). Agricultural Development in Sub-Saharan Africa A Critical Survey. In L. R. Martin (Ed.), A Survey of Agricultural Economics Literature, Volume 4 (pp. 3-328). University of Minnesota Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5749/j.cttttgj8.5
[17]
Elsayed, A. A. H., Nashwan, M. S., Eltahan, A. M. H., & Shahid, S. (2024). Millions More Egyptians Will Be Exposed to Drought by 2100 under the Goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 101, Article ID: 104257. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2024.104257
Fila, D., Fünfgeld, H., & Dahlmann, H. (2023). Climate Change Adaptation with Limited Resources: Adaptive Capacity and Action in Small-And Medium-Sized Municipalities. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 26, 5607-5627. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-023-02999-3
[20]
Ge, Q., Zheng, Z., Kang, L., Donohoe, A., Armour, K., & Roe, G. (2023). The Sensitivity of Climate and Climate Change to the Efficiency of Atmospheric Heat Transport. Climate Dynamics, 62, 2057-2067. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-023-07010-3
[21]
Guédé, K. G., Yu, Z., Gu, H., Badji, O., Ahmed, N., Sika, B. et al. (2024). Sensitivities of Hydrological Processes under Climate Warming and Landuse/Landcover Change in the Lhasa Basin, Tibetan Plateau. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, 52, Article ID: 101731. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2024.101731
[22]
Hultman, N. E., & Bozmoski, A. S. (2006). The Changing Face of Normal Disaster: Risk, Resilience and Natural Security in a Changing Climate. Journal of International Affairs, 59, 25-41. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24358425
[23]
Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (2020). Executive Summary (LONG TERM STRATEGY to Achieve DKI Jakarta’s Low Carbon Society 2050). http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep42661.3
[24]
Jaglin, S., Repussard, C., & Belbéoc’h, A. (2011). Decentralisation and Governance of Drinking Water Services in Small West African Towns and Villages (Benin, Mali, Senegal): The Arduous Process of Building Local Governments. Canadian Journal of Development Studies/Revue canadienne d’études du développement, 32, 119-138. https://doi.org/10.1080/02255189.2011.596021
[25]
Kania, D. D., Arubusman, D. A., Sari, M., Ikhsan, R. B., & Zaldin, S. (2023). Does Icao’s Climate Change Mitigation Policy Based on International Agreements Reflect Global Environmental Justice? International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, 23, 449-466. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10784-023-09619-5
[26]
Kargbo, O., & Mico, R. N. (2012). Coastal Erosion in Sierra Leone. https://www.ijser.org/researchpaper/Coastal-Erosion-in-Sierra-Leone.pdf
[27]
Liberia (2018). National Policy and response Strategy on Climate Change. https://www.undp.org/liberia/publications/national-policy-and-response-strategy-climate-change
[28]
Lokidor, P. L., Taka, M., Lashford, C., & Charlesworth, S. (2023). Nature‐Based Solutions for Sustainable Flood Management in East Africa. Journal of Flood Risk Management, 17, e12954. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfr3.12954
[29]
Makita, Y. (2024). The Dual Approach to Climate Change Adaptation in Official Development Assistance. Development in Practice. https://doi.org/10.1080/09614524.2024.2344517
[30]
Marinelli, L. A. (1964). Liberia’s Open-Door Policy. The Journal of Modern African Studies, 2, 91-98. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022278x00003694
[31]
Møller-Jensen, L., Agergaard, J., Andreasen, M. H., Kofie, R. Y., Yiran, G. A. B., & Oteng-Ababio, M. (2022). Probing Political Paradox: Urban Expansion, Floods Risk Vulnerability and Social Justice in Urban Africa. Journal of Urban Affairs, 45, 505-521. https://doi.org/10.1080/07352166.2022.2108436
[32]
Muyambo, F., Belle, J., Nyam, Y. S., & Orimoloye, I. R. (2024). Climate Change Extreme Events and Exposure of Local Communities to Water Scarcity: A Case Study of Qwaqwa in South Africa. Environmental Hazards. https://doi.org/10.1080/17477891.2024.2315263
[33]
National Adaptation Plan Global Network (2023). Crisis to Action: Liberia’s National Adaptation Plan Addresses Climate Change. https://napglobalnetwork.org/2023/09/crisis-to-action-liberia-nap-addresses-climate-change/#:~:text=Working%20on%20Liberia's%20NAP%20process,participatory%2C%20and%20fully%20transparent%20approach
[34]
Nyide, S., Simatele, M. D., Grab, S., & Adom, R. K. (2023). Assessment of the Dynamics Towards Effective and Efficient Post-Flood Disaster Adaptive Capacity and Resilience in South Africa. Sustainability, 15, Article 12719. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151712719
[35]
Odersky, M., & Löffler, M. (2024). Differential Exposure to Climate Change? Evidence from the 2021 Floods in Germany. The Journal of Economic Inequality. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10888-023-09605-6
[36]
Oduro, K. A., Obeng, E. A., Abukari, H., Guuroh, R. T., Andoh, J., Mensah, E. S. et al. (2024). Local Communities’ Adaptation Strategies for Reducing Vulnerabilities to Climate Change in Cocoa-Forest Dominated Landscapes in Ghana. GeoJournal, 89, Article No. 61. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-024-11052-3
[37]
Ogle, S. M., Conant, R. T., Fischer, B., Haya, B. K., Manning, D. T., McCarl, B. A. et al. (2023). Policy Challenges to Enhance Soil Carbon Sinks: The Dirty Part of Making Contributions to the Paris Agreement by the United States. Carbon Management, 14, Article ID: 2268071. https://doi.org/10.1080/17583004.2023.2268071
[38]
Paavola, J. (2008). Livelihoods, Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change in Morogoro, Tanzania. Environmental Science & Policy, 11, 642-654. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2008.06.002
[39]
Patt, A. G., Tadross, M., Nussbaumer, P., Asante, K., Metzger, M., Rafael, J. et al. (2010). Estimating Least-Developed Countries’ Vulnerability to Climate-Related Extreme Events over the Next 50 Years. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 107, 1333-1337. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0910253107
[40]
Pinke, Z., Decsi, B., Demeter, G., Kalicz, P., Kern, Z., & Acs, T. (2024). Continental Lowlands Face Rising Crop Vulnerability: Structural Change in Regional Climate Sensitivity of Crop Yields, Hungary (central and Eastern Europe), 1921-2010. Regional Environmental Change, 24, Article No. 33. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-024-02192-w
[41]
Sriartha, I. P., Giyarsih, S. R., & Purnamawati, I. G. A. (2023). Comparing the Adaptive Capacity of Traditional Irrigated Rice Fields Farmers in Urban and Rural Areas to Climate Change in Bali, Indonesia. Cogent Social Sciences, 9, Article ID: 2275936. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2023.2275936
[42]
Steady, F. C. (2014). Women, Climate Change and Liberation in Africa. Race, Gender & Class, 21, 312-333. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43496976
[43]
Thirgood, J. V. (1965). Land-Use Problems of the Liberian Coastal Savannah. The Commonwealth Forestry Review, 44, 40-47. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42603253
[44]
World Bank (2013). LCDs Countries Poverty Reduction.
[45]
World Bank (2018a). Climate Risk Country Profile. https://climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org/sites/default/files/2021-07/15917-WB_Liberia%20Country%20Profile-WEB%20%281%29.pdf
[46]
World Bank (2018b). Liberia’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Is Supported by the Rebuilding of Core Functions and Institutions, Rehabilitating Infrastructure, and Facilitating Growth. https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/liberia/overview
[47]
World Bank (2021). Liberia Climate Change Portal. https://climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org/country/liberia/heat-risk
[48]
Yang, L., & St. John, E. P. (2023). Public Investment in Short-Cycle Tertiary Vocational Education: Historical, Longitudinal, and Fixed-Effects Analyses of Developed and Less-Developed Countries. Education Sciences, 13, Article 573. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13060573
[49]
Yasunari, T. J., Narita, D., Takemura, T., Wakabayashi, S., & Takeshima, A. (2024). Comprehensive Impact of Changing Siberian Wildfire Severities on Air Quality, Climate, and Economy: MIROC5 Global Climate Model’s Sensitivity Assessments. Earth’s Future, 12, e2023EF004129. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023ef004129
[50]
Zhou, L., Kori, D. S., Sibanda, M., & Nhundu, K. (2022). An Analysis of the Differences in Vulnerability to Climate Change: A Review of Rural and Urban Areas in South Africa. Climate, 10, Article 118. https://doi.org/10.3390/cli10080118
[51]
Ziga-Abortta, F. R., & Kruse, S. (2023). What Drives Vulnerability? Explaining the Institutional Context of Flood Disaster Risk Management in Sub-Saharan Africa. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 97, Article ID: 104054. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2023.104054
[52]
Zou, T. (2019). Modeling and Analysis of the Influence of Costal Remediation and Repair Management Project on the Coastal Erosion and Siltation. Journal of Coastal Research, 83, 305-308. https://doi.org/10.2112/SI83-050.1
