The African Development Bank has won praise, in particular from UN Secretary-General António Guterres, for setting the bar in 2019 by allocating half of its climate finance to adaptation.
To find out how the Bank has fared in mainstreaming green growth and climate change into its policies, strategies, and operations, the Independent Development Evaluation (IDEV) unit conducted an assessment covering the period between 2008 and 2018.
According to the 2020 Joint Report on Multilateral Development Banks' Climate Finance, the African Development Bank was the only MDB to invest more in climate adaptation (63% of total climate finance) than in climate mitigation (37%), a significant feat given that, historically, mitigation action has received a larger share of financing. In line with its Ten-Year Strategy 2013-2022, the Bank committed to incorporating climate-informed design into 100% of its investments in 2021.
The IDEV evaluation analyzed a project cluster evaluation of seven energy and transport projects funded by the Bank to the tune of $400 million. The evaluation found that, the higher up a specialized green growth and climate change unit is in a multilateral development bank's organizational structure, the more effective it can be at seizing opportunities, influencing decisions and resource allocation, and increasing the impact and efficiency of mainstreaming efforts.
The Bank has largely succeeded in mainstreaming the climate agenda across its operational departments and projects, and further demonstrated this commitment through creating a dedicated department. However, the evaluation recommended that the department should be positioned to provide more strategic sectoral oversight, including responsibility for appropriate targets throughout the institution.
Have expertise in the field
By 2018, 82% of new African Development Bank projects were designed to enhance resilience or adaptation and to reduce climate impacts and/or greenhouse gas emissions. However, the evaluation found that measures were implemented in a limited way during project execution.
The shortcomings are largely due to capacity constraints at the country level. The evaluation recommended strengthening the technical and institutional capacities of the Bank's specialized department to provide quality and timely hands-on support to the Bank's Country and Regional Offices throughout the project cycle.
IDEV's evaluation identified that the presence of environmental experts at all stages of implementation and review processes was an important recurring success factor, as highlighted by the Ouarzazate Noor I Solar Power Station in Morocco, where technical support ensured the Bank's environmental and social requirements set high standards of compliance. In contrast, a lack of permanent expertise in Cameroon led to missed opportunities for better environmental performance.
Know where you're going and set the path to get there
Monitoring and measuring results was found to be another essential factor to ensure implementation. The systematic use of robust monitoring and evaluation was shown to deliver credible results, enhance the understanding of projects, and provide opportunities to capture learning and show the impact and benefits of investments.
The evaluation points to the need for formal mechanisms and structures to ensure focus on monitoring green growth and climate change during project implementation. Technical environment specialists, task managers, and implementing partners should ensure compliance, reporting and monitor results during project implementation.
The findings, lessons and recommendations of IDEV's evaluation informed the Bank's new Climate Change and Green Growth Strategic Framework, consisting of a policy, a strategy, and an action plan.
