A report out this week from the United Nations identified Africa as one of the world's most vulnerable regions when it comes to climate change. And within Africa, poor people in rural areas who depend on agriculture are likely to bear the brunt, according to Tony Nyong of the International Development Research Centre, one of the authors of the report's chapter on Africa.

Nyong stressed that the risks are higher in Africa not because the continent experiences more extreme weather events, but because of the additional stresses and challenges it faces, like conflicts and corruption. "Vulnerability is not only about climate; climate is just one more factor," he explained at a conference in London to discuss the report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

To the 1.5 million people now affected by the worst floods in decades across east and west Africa, the pronouncements of academics and policymakers are likely to come as little surprise. Homes, roads, bridges and dams have been destroyed from Uganda to Ghana, and crop failures are already causing food shortages. Dirty drinking water could lead to serious health problems.

Aid agencies fear the situation could deteriorate and some, like the British Red Cross, have launched appeals for extra funds.

While relief workers are rightly wary of attributing individual weather events to climate change, Christian Aid warns that Africa is likely to experience more climate-related disasters in the future.

"These extremes of weather are exactly what have been predicted," said Andrew Pendleton, the agency's senior climate policy analyst in a press release. "Long dry periods followed by short, torrential rainy spells are creating havoc. Harvests are being destroyed with the result people are no longer able to feed themselves. The situation is only going to get worse unless we take action now."

Most people agree something must be done. But what's much less clear is who should be spearheading efforts to deal with the harmful effects of climate change in Africa.

At the London conference - whether by accident or design - the ball seemed to have been placed firmly in the court of international donors and aid agencies.

Nyong's briefing on the likely impacts of climate change in Africa was followed by an address from Britain's Under Secretary of State for International Development, Gareth Thomas, on climate change, aid and Africa, and a presentation from the head of the British branch of CARE outlining what international aid agencies are doing to help.

Afterwards, Martin Parry the co-chair of the IPCC's working group on vulnerability and adaptation to climate change, asked whether the panel hadn't overlooked African solutions to the problems of climate change.

Nyong, a Nigerian scientist based in Nairobi, agreed. "Africans aren't so interested in aid. What we want is partnerships between countries," he said. "We can talk about aid - but no amount can 'climate proof' Africa and protect it from climate change."

Nyong argued that the responsibility of the world's richest countries - and its biggest polluters - should lie with cutting their greenhouse gas emissions rather than patching up the damage.

Co-operation was needed to come up with new climate-friendly technologies, such as clean energy and drought-resistant crops, he said, but parachuting in "alien technology" would fail because Africans would be wary of adopting it. "The work must come from within the continent, not outside. To be sustainable, it must address the needs of communities," Nyong said.

In fact, the speakers' positions weren't so far apart.

From the aid group perspective, CARE's Geoffrey Dennis stressed that his organisation works mainly through local staff and understands that people want dignity, not handouts. But he higlighted a need for greater co-operation between agencies and communities to avoid repeating mistakes of inappropriate aid.

The minister agreed with Nyong that global emissions should be reduced, based on targets that are "fair and equitable" for developing countries. The international community must stump up sufficient funds to help poor countries adapt to climate change - including money for research by African scientists. And African governments also needed help to integrate measures to tackle climate change into their planning and budgets, Thomas said.

As with other development issues, climate change is increasingly being seen as a question of good governance - an area in which donors have invested growing amounts of aid money.

"It's difficult for African political candidates to campaign on greenhouse gas emissions," pointed out Nyong. "They have to talk about the concrete things they've done."

Of course, governance is about more much than elections. But unless African governments show greater political will to tackle climate change in their own countries, there's a risk donors and international aid agencies will end up running the show.

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