The African Development Bank (AfDB) will promote Africa's green growth agenda at the 19th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC - COP 19) taking place this week and next in Warsaw, Poland.
The conference, which runs from November 11 to 22, offers an opportunity to showcase some of the important initiatives and activities in Africa regarding climate change and development from wide-ranging actors and ensure that development and climate change are at the forefront of discussions and negotiations regarding financing, among other things.
The Bank's side event titled "Transitioning towards Green Growth in Africa: The Role of the African Development Bank and other regional institutions" taking place on November 18, will present the Bank's efforts, achievements and challenges in the planning and implementation of natural resources management, in building climate resilience and creating sustainable infrastructure to pave the way to green and climate-resilient growth in Africa.
The event will showcase the numerous initiatives aimed at spearheading the promotion of low carbon, resource efficient and socially inclusive growth. It will also benefit from the lessons learned by the United Nation Environment Program (UNEP), World Wide Fund (WWF), International Labour Organization (ILO) and the examples of specific countries such as Mozambique, as they provide an overview of their respective experiences in promoting green growth on the African continent.
The African Development Bank is also a fervent supporter in building the capacity of African negotiators to the Conference of Parties, by providing technical support as well as increasing the number of African delegates attending the negotiation meetings and other climate-related events.
Achieving Sustainable Low-Carbon Transport
Furthermore, the AfDB will be a key partner and co-organizer of the Transport Day 2013 to be held on November 17. The event is expected to conclude with the adoption of the "Warsaw Statement on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport", which will contain recommendations on how to strengthen the integration of sustainable, low-carbon transport in the UNFCCC process, particularly the new global agreement on climate change.
As an experienced knowledge-broker in climate change and a high performer in climate finance, the AfDB will further consolidate and expand its role and reputation as a trusted partner through its various intervention at COP 19/CMP 9.
The Bank has recently finalized the development of the Monitoring and Evaluation Framework to track progress on implementation of its climate change action plan. The Bank has also developed several innovative climate change tools including a screening tool and a climate finance tracking methodology, which will be demonstrated at COP 19.
The AfDB plays a key role as financier, partner and advisor to African countries to assist them in gaining access to available resources and capitalizing on future financing opportunities. In that regard, the AfDB, under its Climate Change Action Plan, aims to invest up to US $10 billion between 2011 and 2015. These resources are drawn from the AfDB's own internal funding, bilateral trust funds and climate finance instruments such as the Climate Investments Funds, the Global Environment Facility, the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa and the Congo Basin Forest Fund. The AfDB's current investment for climate-smart projects represents US $3.7 billion over the last two years (2011-2012). In 2012, the AfDB dedicated one out of three dollars of its total lending for climate finance.
