Climate Adaptation: Western leaders must deliver on $100bn promise at COP27 – Prof. Verkooijen
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA), Prof. Dr. Patrick Verkooijen, has said leaders of western nations that are the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, must deliver on their $100bn climate adaptation financing promise to Africa.
Speaking at the global launch of the State and Trends on Adaptation Report 2022 and reacting to a question posed to him by norvanreports, Prof. Dr Verkooijen noted investments into climate change adaptation in Africa by rich countries, not only helps the African Continent but also the rich nations themselves.
According to him, the World Bank has projected that about 82 million Africans will leave the Continent for Europe as a result of the impact of climate change.
“The world has to deliver on the promises they have made. The world has promised $100 billion a year flowing from the global north to the global south. The world has promised to double adaptation and yes, it’s understandable that the Ukraine crisis and the inflation which is driven by the crisis is basically undermining the financial commitments on climate.
“But let us not forget that the investments which are being provided on the table for, in this case, Africa, is also good for the rest of the world because the consequences of the climate crisis will not stop in Africa.
“The World Bank has estimated that in the coming years, approximately 82 million people will leave their houses because of the climate crisis, a subset of these 82 million people will come to the shores of Europe. It is much better, much more effective, much more humane to invest in adaptation in Africa. It’s good for Africa and it’s good for the world,” he remarked.
Meanwhile, an estimated $11.4 billion was committed to climate adaptation finance in Africa in 2019 and 2020, with 97% of the funds coming from public actors and the remaining 3% from the private sector.
The financing amount is significantly lower than the $52.7 billion needed annually by the Continent, thereby resulting in a financing gap of some $41.3bn in the year 2019 and 2020.
In its newly published report on climate change adaptation in Africa, the Global Center on Adaptation, notes that Africa is facing a critical shortfall in funding for climate adaptation.
The report reveals that cumulative adaptation finance to 2030 will come to less than one-quarter of the estimated needs stated by African countries in their National Determined Contributions (NDCs) unless more funding for climate adaptation is secured.
To increase the volume and efficacy of adaptation finance flows to Africa over the coming decade, the report makes the following recommendations:
- Financial institutions must mainstream resilience into investments they are making.
- Policy makers and other stakeholders must build the enabling environment for adaptation investment.
- Financial innovation for adaptation must match country-level policy and market conditions.
According to Professor Patrick Verkooijen, “Adaptation finance is scaling too slowly to close the investment gap in Africa, even as the costs of inaction rise. As we look forward to COP27, we must generate a breakthrough on finance for climate adaptation.
“The Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program endorsed by the African Union, is the best vehicle we have to ensure the adaptation investment shortfall in Africa is met with action from all available sources including the private sector.”
