May 24 2021
Springer Nature has announced that the Major Reference Work African Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation, the most comprehensive publication on climate change adaptation in Africa ever produced, will now be available open access (OA).
As the largest publisher of academic books, Springer Nature has brought together over 100 contributions from across Africa with papers prepared by scholars, representatives from social movements, practitioners and members of governmental agencies, undertaking climate change projects in Africa, and working with communities across the African continent.
Initially compiled as a 'Living Reference', the new comprehensive handbook discusses in three volumes current thinking and presents the main issues and challenges associated with climate change in Africa. By being free to read and use for all globally it will enable researchers and policymakers to build on this knowledge straightaway.
Anil Chandy, Vice President, Humanities, Social Sciences Books & Focus Projects at Springer Nature, said: "At Springer Nature, we want to accelerate solutions to the world's societal challenges. This is why we are delighted to support research on the UN's Sustainable Development Goals with this new publication. Thanks to its scope, its wide range of themes and contributors, and the fact that it is now available OA, we believe this book will be a seminal publication on the topic of climate change adaptation and inspire further scientific advancements".
Walter Leal Filho, Editor-in-Chief, said: "Climate change is a major global challenge. However, some geographical regions are more severely affected than others. One of these regions is the African continent. Due to a combination of unfavourable socio-economic and meteorological conditions, African countries are particularly vulnerable to climate change and its impacts." Prof Leal Filho holds the Chair of Climate Change Management at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences in Germany, and the Chair of Environment and Technology at Manchester Metropolitan University, in the United Kingdom.
The African Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation joins the more than 300,000 articles and book chapters Springer Nature has published on the 17 identified global challenges since the SDGs were launched in 2015 with this research having been downloaded more than 750 million times. Springer Nature has also been leading the way in open access (OA) publishing and is driving a small but growing OA book market. Its OA book portfolio now includes over 1,400 titles spanning all academic disciplines, with more than 170 million chapter downloads worldwide.
The three volumes of the handbook are available electronically for free on Springer Nature's platform SpringerLink and further widens the scope of research relevant to the SDGs and supports Springer Nature's mission of not just adding scientific knowledge to the research community but of helping to advance society as a whole by advancing discovery and science.