Regional integration in Africa is hamstrung by a multiplicity of factors, ranging from the ideological schools (gradualist or radicalist) which African leaders ascribe to as well as the weak operational parameters which regulates the mandate of the African Union. In recognizing that the objective of effective regional integration can be achieved if the relevant policy and institutional support is harnessed, it is increasingly being recognized that climate change is a formidable modifier of regional integration in Africa. The specificity of climate change within the context of regional integration in Africa is that its poses an existentialist threat to the very survival of Africa if appropriate adaptation and mitigation strategies are not rapidly activated. This paper seeks to explain the inter-linkages between climate change on the one hand and regional integration on the other. Apart from exacerbating droughts, famine, landslides and other natural disasters as well as patterns of human settlements and welfare, climate change has been emerged to become a permanent fixture of international policy making and development planning. The paper’s structure is divided into two parts. It opens with a detailed introduction and proceeds to the first part which briefly explain the operational context of regional integration and climate change. The second part focuses on how climate change influences the trajectory of regional integration. To be fair in our analysis, we also attempt to show how climate change can become a catalyst for regional integration seeing that it is being tackled at the national, sub-regional and regional levels with assistance from international funding agencies and partners. This paper makes use of secondary sources of data and applies purely qualitative analysis.

Keywords : Climate Change, Regional Integration, Africa, Climate Governance, Adaptation and Mitigation