How is climate change impacting on ageing in Eastern Africa; An intersectional Scoping Review

This scoping review explores how climate change is impacting on ageing populations in Eastern Africa through an intersectional lens. Drawing on evidence from urban and rural contexts across the region, the review identifies four key themes: climate-related health and wellbeing impacts in later life, livelihood disruption and food insecurity, unequal vulnerability and adaptive capacity, and the role of older adults as holders of Indigenous Knowledge and contributors to adaptation. Findings illustrate that climate change disproportionately affects older adults through increased exposure to illness, food and water insecurity, environmental degradation, and livelihood precarity, with experiences shaped by gender, socioeconomic status, disability, and place. Older women were identified as particularly vulnerable due to unequal access to resources and caregiving responsibilities. In parallel, the review highlights the important role older adults play in supporting resilience through Indigenous and environmental knowledge, cultural practices, and community-based responses to environmental change.The review argues for intersectional and age-inclusive approaches to climate change research, policy, and practice that better recognise the differentiated experiences, adaptive capacities, and knowledge contributions of older adults in Eastern Africa.