The Special Envoy for Climate of the US President Joseph Biden, Secretary John Kerry met with the President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, virtually today, ahead of this year's global climate summit, COP 26. They discussed Africa's climate emergency, COP26 preparations and how the United States can help close the annual $27 billion climate finance gap for Africa.
Adesina praised President Biden's bold announcement of the doubling of the US government's contribution to climate finance to $11.4 billion a year by 2024.
The African Development Bank is taking strong actions to tackle climate change in Africa and has committed to double its climate finance to $25 billion by 2025. The Bank is spearheading efforts to mobilize greater private sector financing for climate change through several efforts, including the Africa Financial Alliance for Climate Change, to mobilize all financial institutions, institutional investors and stock exchanges to tilt greater share of their investments to green financing investments.
"It is time to move from billions to trillions of dollars of investments in climate financing to build Africa's resilience and the private sector must play a much larger role", Adesina said.
Adesina briefed the US President's Special Envoy on ongoing bold initiatives of the Bank including Desert-to-Power to develop 10,000 MW of electricity via the solar in the Sahel, to provide electricity for 250 million people, and which will become the world's largest solar zone. The Bank and the Global Center for Adaptation have launched the African Adaptation Acceleration Program to mobilize an additional $12.5 billion for climate adaptation for Africa. The African Development Bank is using its Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa to support promotion of alternatives to fossil fuel generation using renewable energy.
Adesina called for developed countries to meet their promise to provide $100 billion annually in support of developing countries to tackle climate change, climate adaptation and build resilience. "The leadership and strong support of the United States for the Desert-to-Power program, the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa and the African Adaptation Acceleration Program will be critical for success at scale".
Secretary Kerry commended the leadership of the African Development Bank and said "these initiatives for climate financing by the African Development Bank are bold ideas and they will help change the picture on climate financing for Africa".
Secretary Kerry pledged the strong support and partnership of the United States Government towards the success of these initiatives for Africa.
Contact:
Amba Mpoke-Bigg, Communication and External Relations Department, email: a.mpoke-bigg@afdb.org
