……’IT’S CAUSING DEVASTATIONS IN MOST COUNTRIES’
By Jeff Kapembwa
“The devastations caused by climate change in most African countries are immense and we need to more than double up financing for adaptation to allow affected nations rebuild their battered economies and the environment, ” says the Africa Development Bank.
Various climate change campaigners have bemoaned the slow pace at which financing institutions, including the developed nations, United States, India, China, among others have approached the crisis yet resolutions of the COP26 showed total commitment by all to honor its pledge and double adaptation finance, or better still inch closer to at least US$200+ by 2025.
Africa has an estimated allocation of US30 billion per annum for adaptation compared to the much needed US$277 billion, a financial deficit that needs to be closed and allow countries, Zambia included, to refurbish the damaged infrastructure and economies, many that have lost their growth projections.
African Development Bank Group President Akinwumi Adesina describes the devastation as urgent and a clarion call that should call for the attention of various financial institutions to pull resources together as climate change continues to wreak havoc in many African countries.
“Africa is in the eye of the storm from climate change, accounting for 9 out of the 10 most vulnerable countries to climate change globally,” Adesina told participants at a high-level roundtable on climate finance convened during the just ended International Monetary Fund and World Bank Spring Meetings.
He noted that while there was growing demand in various African countries to respond to various other needs, the climate crisis was more urgent than ever before hence the need to join hands with various partners.
The lending institutions and other lenders are key in mopping resources that have more than quadrupled in recent years because of unforeseen human actions inimical to environmental protection, and Africa deserves more attention in redressing climate effects.
“But Africa is not getting what it needs to adapt to climate change. Africa received just $30 billion per year for climate adaptation, while its needs are $277 billion per year, leaving a huge financing gap.”
During his address at the high-level roundtable on climate finance convened during the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Spring Meetings by UK Deputy Foreign Minister and Minister of State for Development and Africa, Andrew Mitchell, and the German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Svenja Schulze, said the call for support was dire.
The ongoing devastating drought in several parts of Africa underscored the need for all stakeholders to come together to accelerate support and financing for Africa.
The African Development Bank, in its commitment to the cause, has scaled up climate finance and is exceeding its financing targets for African countries. The Bank has launched several innovations to mobilise resources that will help scale up climate finance.
Additionally, it recently mobilized $750 million hybrid capital issue in the global capital markets, the first of its kind among multilateral development banks. The initiative was oversubscribed at $6 billion, a reminder for all to revisit the financing pledge made two years ago.
“We need to collectively deliver on the COP26 pledge to double adaptation finance by 2025. We need to work on meeting the COP 26 targets… We are seeing the devastating impact of climate change in the developing world. Humanitarian crises are getting more frequent… and we fear that they will get worse.” Mitchell said:
The UK was going further by tripling adaptation financing, the majority of which will be by grants. German Minister Svenja Schulze described 2024 as a critical window of opportunity to reform the global financial architecture. “Adaptation financing urgently needs our attention,” she said.
Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados echoed the importance of a creative collective approach to tapping the significant amount of money in the global community, pointing out that “We are racing against time…”
It was time to realize that outdated models of development assistance were not appropriate to tackle the very different kinds of development challenges faced today by countries of the Global South than those that existed when the international development institutions were originally established, she stressed.
The CEO of the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA), Professor Patrick V. Verkooijen underlined the urgency of global adaptation financing as well as country investment plans for adaptation.
Verkooijen said: “Let us put this into context. Developing countries need $3.3 trillion in adaptation finance over the next decade to 2035. Adaptation finance must quadruple, not by 2035. Today. And if we look at Africa, the situation is even more dire… Our key message is simple: Everybody must invest more in climate adaptation globally and in Africa.”
He highlighted how the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program model with the African Development Bank and African Union was delivering good results, “the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program must grow exponentially. It needs to be turbocharged.”
Adesina said the African Development Bank was delivering on its promise. He said: “The African Development Bank set a target to devote 40% of its total financing to climate finance. We have exceeded this target consistently in the past three years, consecutively, and stood at 55% in 2023.”
The roundtable included interventions by World Bank Group President Ajay Banga, Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados, Global Center on Adaptation CEO Professor Patrick V. Verkooijen, COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev, and ministers from Germany, the UK, Malawi, Kenya, Uruguay, Norway, Vanuatu, and Bangladesh.
There were also interventions from heads of the Asian Development Bank, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Executive Secretary Simon Stiell, and Green Climate Fund Executive Director Mafalda Duarte.
The meeting highlighted the urgency of partnerships and collaboration to deliver climate finance to countries that need it most, including building capacity in these countries to better use these funds, develop bankable projects, and support smallholder farmers.
World Bank Group Ajay Banga encouraged stakeholders to remain determined to move forward despite existing frustrations. He said: “The first thing is not just to raise money, but to raise the capacity of countries in terms of getting bankable projects and also the capacity to execute them. We need to find a way to support countries with knowledge.”
Climate Action Window supporting Africa’s most vulnerable countries
In response to the calls for reform of the global financial architecture, Adesina said the African Development Bank had innovated and created the Climate Action Window as part of the 16th replenishment of its African Development Fund. He described it as “first among all multilateral development banks”.
With initial funding of $429 million from development partners Germany, the UK, The Netherlands, and Switzerland, the African Development Bank plans to increase this to $13 billion.
“The Climate Action Window will directly support the low-income and most vulnerable countries on climate adaptation, mitigation, and technical assistance. The first call for proposals for adaptation elicited $4 billion of projects, ten times the size of the total facility, confirming the massive demand for adaptation finance by countries.” said Adesina.
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