The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group, represented by Mr. Anthony Nyong, Compliance and Safeguards Division Manager, briefed African climate change negotiators on Tuesday, 30 November 2010 in Cancun, Mexico. He informed them that the Africa Green Fund (AGF) was being set up in response to the request by Africa's leadership for a ring-fencing of resources pledged under the Copenhagen Accord for Africa and importantly, that this allocation be managed by the AfDB.

Mr. Nyong explained the main attributes of the proposed fund which includes enhanced direct access by countries, complete alignment with Africa's priorities and processes as well as the strengthening of country systems to support the implementation of projects.

Going forward, he said that the AfDB was undertaking extensive consultations with stakeholders of the proposed AGF, with emphasis on a bottom-up process in order to ensure that the Fund is effective, and that it meets the needs and expectations of the continent.

He thanked the African negotiators for their work and urged them to ensure that the mistakes made during the negotiation process of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in Kyoto at COP 3, where a financing mechanism that was not fully aligned with Africa's needs and priorities was endorsed, were not repeated.

He reminded the Negotiators that Africa had not benefitted from the CDM, which was heralded as the solution to helping Africa take advantage of climate change to achieve sustainable development.

Speaking earlier, the Chair of the African Group, Tosi Mpanu-Mpanu, acknowledged the enormous contributions that the Bank had made towards supporting the African negotiators in their engagement in the negotiation process of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

This support includes the provision of a legal expert Mr. Seth Osafo who has been working with the negotiators for 2 years, the organisation of technical training sessions on core issues such as Carbon Finance, sponsoring the participation of 20 African negotiators including the provision of translation services for their meetings.

During a lively discussion session that followed Mr. Nyong's presentation, the negotiators expressed their appreciation of the Bank's technical and financial support. They acknowledged the desirability of the Africa Green Fund and commended the AfDB for its constant support to the continent with regards to the challenges posed by climate change.

The major considerations that the negotiators want to be addressed in the design of the proposed Fund are that

It should not crowd out other sources of revenue that can contribute to providing climate finance for Africa,

There should be equity in access to both big and small countries and

That the Fund should be aligned with the UNFCCC process.

The AfDB President, Donald Kaberuka, is scheduled to address the African negotiators considering the importance of their work and to reiterate why Africa needs the Africa Green Fund.

Contacts

Felix Njoku