Efforts from the international community and African countries to improve access to climate finance in Africa have yielded significant results in recent year; however the current flows remain insufficient to meet Africa's actual needs.
The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) is playing a key role as financier, partner, and advisor to its Regional Member Countries to assist them in enhancing access to available resources, as well as to capitalize on future financing opportunities. The Bank has also scaled up efforts to optimally apply its privileged position as a convener and voice of Africa to influence policy directions and decisions on pertinent issues, especially those on climate finance, as it supports the Africa preparatory process for these meetings.
The objectives for the Bank, within the context of COP18, are to bring attention to and find concrete solutions for the financing of climate change interventions in Africa; and to promote the need for natural resource use efficiency, sustainability and resilience with a particular focus on trans-boundary natural resource management in a changing climate. To this end, AfDB will be hosting three side events at COP18 including;
Financing Climate Change: Africa's Access to Convention Funds.
Transboundary Natural Resources Management in a Changing Climate: The Case of Shared Watersheds in Africa.
Accounting for Climate Change Finance: The Harmonized Approach of the Multilateral Development Banks Towards Adaptation and Mitigation Financing.
These side events will provide a discussion platform for decision-makers and practitioners from Africa and the wider international community to exchange ideas in proffering solutions for the issues at hand.
To join us for all or any of the three side events, please register here.
Given its unmatched operational experience in Africa and its understanding of the social, institutional and economic context, the Bank has a clear comparative advantage in implementing climate-resilient and low-carbon operations and programs on the continent; and is addressing climate change as a cross-cutting issue and part of a broader accelerated development agenda for the continent.
The Bank is currently implementing its 2011-2015 Climate Change Action Plan to guide the implementation of its Climate Risk Management and Adaptation Strategy (CRMA) and Clean Energy Investment Framework (CEIF), which address the broader issues of adaptation and mitigation, respectively. In implementing its Climate Change Action Plan, AfDB intends to invest about US $6.4 billion and will significantly scale up investments in the areas of renewable energy, sustainable transport, smart agriculture and sustainable land and water management, whilst taking health and social issues into consideration. These climate change relevant investments will benefit from the Bank's privileged position to catalyze public-private partnerships in Africa.
To read more about the climate-resilient and low-carbon operations implemented by the Bank, please find the newly released brochure: "Solutions for a Changing Climate: AfDB's Response to Impacts in Africa."
