This book examined the regulatory frameworks which relates to climate change at international, regional and national levels, as they affect indigenous peoples’ lands in Africa. It demonstrates how, at national level especially, a climate change regulatory framework can offer inadequate protection to indigenous peoples’ land tenure and use, a development that can negatively affect the realization of their rights. It then explores how the regional human rights framework in Africa can be employed to address the inadequacy. According to the Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released in 2014, “the warming of the earth is unequivocal” and “human influence on the climate system is clear” strengthening and echoing the findings of the IPCC, a U S Global Change Research programme report, notes that the warming of the planet is “unambiguous” and is primarily driven by human activities. Human activities which put pressure on the global environment, are historically associated with a range of factors, including the emergence of fossil fuel burning technology to support industry, automobiles, construction and other energy demands connected with the economic development path of developed nations in the North, their over-consumption or “way of life”. Recently, they have been linked to the pursuit of a similar development path by developing nations that has come with large-scale agriculture, mining, construction and logging. This trend is increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, thus enhancing the greenhouse effect, which, in turn, has led to increased warming of the earth surface resulting in climate change and its adverse impacts world over.
