United States (U.S.) President, Joe Biden, on Friday, announced over $150 million to accelerate the implementation of his Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience (PREPARE) work across Africa.
Biden, who made the announcement at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, said the fund is in support of the “Adaptation in Africa” initiative he and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi announced in June.
He said that African cities and communities that are hardest hit by the climate crisis do not have the resources to adapt, adding that his administration has doubled its adaptation pledge.
According to him, if countries can finance coal in developing countries, they can also finance clean energy in those countries.
He also assured that the U.S. will ensure that every dollar delivered goes as far as possible in unlocking larger pools of financing and the trillions in private investment that is needed.
“So many disasters, climate crises; the cities and hardest hit countries and communities have the fewest resources to respond and to recover. That’s why last year I committed to working with our congress to quadruple U.S. support to climate finance and provide $11 billion annually by 2024, including $3 billion for adaptation,” Biden said.
“Today, as a down payment, we’re announcing more than $150 million in initiatives that will specifically support and prepare adaptation efforts throughout Africa, including adaptation and African efforts that Egypt and the United States launched together in June.
“This includes support for expanding early warning systems to help recover Africa, broadening access to climate finance, providing disaster risk protection, strengthening food security, mobilising the private sector, and supporting a new training centre in Egypt to accelerate adaptation all across the continent.”
The climate crisis is about human, economic, environmental and national security as well as life on the planet.
Impacts of climate change
Citing the impacts of climate change across the world, Biden said the climate crisis is about human, economic, environmental and national security as well as the life on the planet.
He charged world leaders to see it as a mission to avert climate catastrophe and ensure a new clean energy economy for the present and the future.
He continued: “According to the World Meteorological Organisation, the past eight years have been the warmest on record. The United States is seeing a historic drought. Wildfires in the west, food insecurity, and hunger following four years of intense drought in the Horn of Africa.
“The Nigeria flooding has recently killed 600 people, 1.3 million more are displaced. Seasonal livestock migration routes have been used for hundreds of years and are being altered, increasing the risk of conflict between herders and local farming communities.
“Our investments in technology, from electric batteries to hydrogen are going to spark a cycle of innovation that will reduce the cost and improve the performance of clean energy technology that will be available to nations worldwide, not just the United States.
“We’re going to help make the transition to a low carbon future more affordable for everyone, accelerate decarbonisation beyond our borders. In fact, the International Energy Agency recently concluded that our significant climate investment will turbocharge the emerging global clean energy economy and dream of course. It’s going to shift the paradigm for the United States and the entire world.”