Climate change, the Fourth Industrial Revolution and sustainable development in Africa

Abstract

As climate change continues to impact the earth, the world will become less stable ecologically and populations will become increasingly vulnerable. Despite greater material output, people in emerging economies, in particular, will become more vulnerable than they are today, unless innovative approaches are considered. Approaches in developing climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies should draw on fourth industrial revolution technologies. Collective intelligence provides an avenue for crowdsourcing ideas on potential solutions, whereas computer simulations and artificial intelligence can also advance sustainable development in vulnerable spaces. It is further suggested that big data should inform financial progress and sustainability at country level. Cities experiencing similar vulnerabilities should also be urged to share best practices among them. Furthermore, a fundamental change in society’s collective ecosophical metaphors should be sought.