Fatima Denton (born August 1966) is a British-Gambian climatologist. She is the director at the Ghanaian branch of the United Nations University, at the UNU Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INRA) in Accra. She focuses on innovation, science, technology and natural resource management.[1][2] She partners with countries such as Benin and Liberia to develop and implement country needs assessment missions.[3]
Denton was the 2015 Barbara Ward Lecturer, challenging policy-makers, researchers, and academics in London to reexamine Africa and its relationship to climate change.[17] She is a speaker at the 2016 Borlaug Dialogue International Symposium, one of several "Women Leaders Driving Agricultural Transformation in Africa".[18]
Early life and education
Fatima Denton was born August 1966[19] and raised in The Gambia. After primary and secondary schooling in Banjul, she completed a wide-ranging array of undergraduate studies at
Dr. Denton has published reports, books, and peer-reviewed articles that advocate for a multi-dimensional view of development that renders it more sustainable. Fatima Denton worked as a policy analyst and project coordinator with the energy program of Enda Tiers Monde in Senegal.[22]: 19 Her work addressed issues including sustainable development, climate and gender,[23]climate change vulnerability and adaptation, food security, local governance, water, and energy poverty[24] in the Sahel.[22]: 14 [25] Her expertise in Benin has contributed to establishing a framework that evaluates adaptive interventions across Africa.[26] "Transformational change"[26] demands local ownership of widespread initiatives that are supported by the higher-level stakeholders. She advocates for a new narrative on climate change in Africa by viewing it as an opportunity.[27] Instead of “standing knee-deep in the river and dying of thirst,”[27] she argues that climate change strategies and agricultural development can be united, or similarly, increased public engagement can elicit technological innovation. She specifically argues that the strategic use of African resources has the capacity to decrease African nations’ dependency on the international community for sustainable growth.[27]
Fatima Denton worked as a senior energy planner with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) at Risø Centre in Denmark.[28] She was a member of UNEP's Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel. She has paid particular attention to the role of women, pointing out their absence from planning and development processes, the unequal impact of disasters and climate change given gendered labour roles and social status, and the need to include women in developing effective energy policies.[23][29] Solutions cannot solely focus on technology and infrastructure; they must also consider community-focused research and analysis of multiple socio-economic and political-institutional factors leading to vulnerability.[9] For example, she contributed to research that suggests the adoption of new agricultural strategies, are positively correlated with young workers (ages 6–14), and in female-headed households.[30]
As coordinator of the African Climate Policy Centre, Denton played a key role advocating for the impactful and decisive goals that African nations should strive for going into the COP 21 meetings for the development of the UN Paris Agreement. In the interest of Africa’s particular vulnerability to the effects of global warming, she outlined that an assertive and responsible approach should be adopted by all countries, regardless of the varying contribution to climate change.[33]
In 2017, Denton stated her advocacy for Climate Information Services (CIS) and its more enthusiastic implementation into the policies of African countries in an effort to counteract poverty and the negative effects of climate.[34]
On September 10, 2018, Denton was appointed as Director at the Ghanaian branch of the United Nations University, specifically, at the UNU Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INRA).[32]
She also contributed to the International Institute on Environment and Development (IIED) as a trustee and as a member in the international research program Future Earth advisory board.[37]
She was elected vice-chair of working group II of the IPCC in July 2023.[38]
^Sathaye, J., O. Lucon, A. Rahman, J. Christensen, F. Denton, J. Fujino, G. Heath, S. Kadner, M. Mirza, H. Rudnick, A. Schlaepfer, A. Shmakin, 2011: "Renewable Energy in the Context of Sustainable Development." In IPCC Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation [O. Edenhofer, R. Pichs-Madruga, Y. Sokona,
K. Seyboth, P. Matschoss, S. Kadner, T. Zwickel, P. Eickemeier, G. Hansen, S. Schlömer, C. von Stechow (eds)], Cambridge University
Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.
^Sokona, Youba; Denton, Fatma (15 June 2011). "Climate change impacts: can Africa cope with the challenges?". Climate Policy. 1 (1): 117–123. doi:10.3763/cpol.2001.0110. S2CID154020901.
^Tirado, Cristina (2012). "Chapter 7: Gender sensitive strategies to address the challenges of climate change on health and nutrition security". Powerful synergies: Gender Equality, Economic Development and Environmental Sustainability. United Nations Development Programme. pp. 119–127.
^Klein, R.J.T., S. Huq, F. Denton, T.E. Downing, R.G. Richels, J.B. Robinson, F.L. Toth, 2007: "Inter-relationships between adaptation and mitigation.Archived 2016-10-07 at the Wayback Machine" In Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, M.L. Parry, O.F. Canziani, J.P. Palutikof, P.J. van der Linden and C.E. Hanson, Eds., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 745-777.
^Kpadonou, Rivaldo A. B.; Barbier, Bruno; Owiyo, Tom; Denton, Fatima; Rutabingwa, Franck (2019). "Manure and adoption of modern seeds in cereal-based systems in West African drylands: linkages and (non)complementarities". Natural Resources Forum. 43 (1): 41–55. doi:10.1111/1477-8947.12163. ISSN1477-8947.
