The role of legislators is critical in placing climate change mitigation and adaptation firmly on the political agenda, participants at a conference heard. The event took place ahead of the UN's forthcoming COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow, UK.
On 7-10 September 2021, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), a German political foundation, convened the African Parliamentary Forum in Nairobi, Kenya, to discuss the crucial role of African parliamentarians in national climate protection. The Forum focused on Nationally Determined Contributions, which set out the framework for climate action at national levels, in line with the Paris Agreement.
Among the key speakers at the forum was Dr. Olufunso Somorin, the Principal Climate Change and Green Growth Officer at the African Development Bank, East Africa region.
Dr. Somorin expressed concern that climate finance flows to Africa remained significantly low, especially for adaptation action. This is worsened by limited private sector participation, yet the sector enjoys the necessary financial resources, technologies and skills to make an impact, he argued.
Somorin said parliamentarians must develop relevant laws to spur foreign and domestic investments in climate finance and boost private sector participation in climate action. "Parliamentarians can address this gap by enforcing policies and regulations that facilitate the development of sectoral climate investment plans, which outline the costs, requirements, incentives and return on investments for potential investors," he stated.
Anja Beretta, the Director of the Energy Security and Climate Change Program in sub-Saharan Africa at Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, urged governments to articulate their climate adaptation plans and roadmaps, providing cost and benefit analyses in order to attract funding for sectors where it was most needed to combat climate change.
The forum heard that combating climate change involved several elements including establishing early warning systems.
Somorin said it had been demonstrated that investing in early warning systems, resilient infrastructure, agriculture, ecosystems and water resource management can yield between $2 and $10 for every dollar invested.
The African Development Bank supports regional member states and private sector actors to help countries transition to low-carbon and climate-resilient development pathways. The Bank's interventions include support for renewable energy generation and transmission, providing funding for increased access to water and climate-resilient infrastructure, as well as climate-smart agriculture projects and ecosystem management.
To increase private sector participation, the Bank provides concessional financing, partial risk guarantees and technical assistance to governments to undertake regulatory reforms to attract investments.
"There remains a clear disconnect between project developers and investors, whereby the investors who have the resources cannot find viable projects to invest in, and those with the viable projects cannot find the right investors," Somorin said.
Nigerian Member of Parliament, Solomon Bulus Maren, noted that relevant institutions such as research organizations in Africa could have been more proactive in generating home-grown solutions to address climate change.
The African Parliamentary Forum urged African governments to recognize trends in investments and build the capacity to forge close partnerships with diverse stakeholders, including development partners, multilateral development banks, civil society and the private sector.
