The Global Centre on Adaptation (GCA), says it pooled about $55 million of new funding to mobilize over $5 billion in climate adaptation action projects for Africa.
The GCA disclosed this at the recently concluded Africa Adaptation Summit, which was held on Monday in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, two months ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference at Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt (COP27).
The $5 billion in climate adaptation action projects are in recognition that affects Africa as the world’s most exposed region to natural and climate disasters occasioned by western industrialisation.
The Chief Executive Officer, the Global Centre on Adaptation, Prof. Patrick Verkooijen, said: “Africa is unstoppable. But Africa is ground zero for the global climate breakdown. Nobody benefits if Africa fails to tackle it.
“Climate fallout in Africa cannot be contained so adaptation action can and must scale at breakneck speed across the continent. The world has to double down on adaptation at the UN climate summit in Egypt just weeks away.”
He added that “We need an adaptation delivery breakthrough for Africa at COP27. That means adaptation finance visibly flowing in Africa. It means the financial ask on wealthy nations for the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program and its Upstream Financing Facility is delivered by COP27. If we fail, all the progress of Glasgow’s COP is at risk.”
Over 70 leaders from the international climate and development community attended the Dialogue.
Communiqué on adaptation
A five-point communiqué issued by the GCA at the end of the Summit highlighted that Africa was at a tipping point due to being most exposed to the food crisis triggered by the Ukraine conflict as well as the frontline of the global climate breakdown.
It underscored that success at COP27 will depend on whether the needs of Africa, the world’s most climate-vulnerable continent, are met, with finance flowing into key country-led adaptation programs such as the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP).
Climate fallout in Africa cannot be contained so adaptation action can and must scale at breakneck speed across the continent.
The Communiqué reads:
- Africa at a tipping point: The international community needs to reckon with the multiple economic, climate and health crises that are pressuring Africa.
- Most vulnerable continent: Africa is the most vulnerable continent to the consequences of the climate crisis.
- Adaptation Finance Doubling Implementation: Progress and transparency on the COP26 agreement to doubling international finance for adaptation by 2025 through delivery into the country programs of the most vulnerable will be central to the success of COP27.
- Capitalizing Africa’s Adaptation Program (AAAP): COP27 is the opportunity for the international community to show solidarity with the bold adaptation efforts of the world’s most vulnerable continent by closing in on the outstanding resourcing need for the African Development Fund (ADF) climate action window.
- Delivering the AAAP Upstream Facility: Making available the AAAP Upstream Financing Facility’s full resourcing needs by COP27 positions the AAAP itself to drive its full ambition into adaptation projects on the ground across Africa, a headline deliverable for the “African COP.”
In closing remarks, the Co-Chair of the GCA, Feike Sijbesma, noted: “Investments in global climate adaptation cooperation are a big opportunity for countries like the Netherlands to share some of our best innovations with those who need them the most.
“The AAAP will be a crucial vehicle for triggering far greater business investment across Africa into green and resilient solutions. This is a collective effort, we need every sector, every contribution possible to see off the climate crisis in Africa, and the private sector, in particular, has a massive role to play.”
The GCA is an international organization which works as a solutions broker to accelerate action and support for adaptation solutions, from the international to the local, in partnership with the public and private sector, to ensure we learn from each other and work together for a climate resilient future.
