African Development Bank launches an accelerated climate change initiative

African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina has launched the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Programme to scale up and accelerate climate change adaptation actions across Africa. Photo: Reuters

African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina has launched the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Programme to scale up and accelerate climate change adaptation actions across Africa. Photo: Reuters

Published Jan 27, 2021

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AFRICAN Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina has launched the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Programme (AAAP) to mobilise $25 billion (about R378bn) to scale up and accelerate climate change adaptation actions across Africa.

The announcement came during the Climate Adaptation Summit (CAS) 2021 on Monday, hosted by the government of the Netherlands and the Global Centre on Adaptation.

The AAAP, an initiative between the African Development Bank and the Global Center on Adaptation, was expected to scale up transformative actions on climate adaptation across Africa, Adesina said during the inaugural Ministerial Dialogue on Adaptation Action, held as part of the summit.

“Our ambition is bold: to galvanise climate resilience actions; support countries to accelerate and scale up climate adaptation and resilience; and mobilize financing at scale for climate adaptation in Africa,” he said.

Adesina was joined in the summit by Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte, 8th UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, current UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

World Bank president David Malpass and IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva also spoke. The Covid-19 crisis formed a backdrop to the meeting.

“I hope that 2021 will be a year of heightened international ambition and action on climate change, after a difficult 2020, and this conference will help achieve that goal,” Rutte said.

Acknowledging the “huge gaps” remaining in financing for adaptation in developing countries, Guterres called for 50 percent of all climate finance provided by developed countries and multilateral development Banks to be allocated to adaptation and resilience in developing countries, adding that: “The African Development Bank set the bar in 2019 by allocating over half its climate financing to adaptation.”

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