DUBAI, UAE (PAMACC News) - Climate finance supports various climate change mitigation and adaptation activities, as well as efforts to enable the transition towards low-carbon, climate-resilient development environment stakeholders have stated at COP28 in Dubai.
The Pan African Climate Justice Alliance, PACJA who joined other stakeholders to clamour for the doubling of adaptation finance by industrialized countries also hammered on the need for private sector finance as catalyst for green growth in Africa.
“Mobilizing private sector financing for climate and green growth in Africa imperative. The should be crucial collaboration between banks and civil society to drive this agenda,” Mithika Mwenda, PACJA CEO said at side event relating to finance mobilization.
He notes that the continent holds immense potential for sustainable development, calling on the need for stakeholders to work together to better achieve positive results
Mithika also explored the pivotal role of civil society in driving meaningful change and stressing the importance of a united front for effective climate action.
Despite its growing political commitment toward green growth and its rich natural capital endowment, the continent lags behind other regions on many green growth dimensions, in particular on the provision of green economic opportunities, participants at the side event said.
Progress on efficient and sustainable resource use and on the promotion of social inclusion has not been sufficient to catch up with other world regions, it was noted. Thus the need to mobilize funds the meet these voids, it was resolved.
According to a document by the African Development Bank, Africa will require about $1.3 trillion annually to meet its sustainable development needs by 203 and thus to achieve green growth.
“Most of this finance is expected to be met through private finance. To meet these needs and given the current levels of public climate finance, private climate finance should increase by about 36 percent each year until 2030,” the document stated.
Leaders attending this year’s global climate change conference in Dubai urged a more global response to the continent’s adaptation financing needs to tackle the impact of climate change and build resilience.
Speaking during the Adaptation Finance Summit for Africa on the second day of the COP28, African leaders said climate adaptation funding, currently at 39% of all climate finance flows to Africa, must rapidly increase.
“ The climate adaptation funding for Africa is quite insufficient. It’s the responsibility of funding institutions and governments to provide the needed funds,” Kenyan President William Ruto said.
‘’The Nairobi Declaration adopted by the African leaders in September reimagines Africa’s future as a thriving, resilient continent that embraces Climate-Positive Growth. The essence and ambition of APRA are encapsulated in this. We need a holistic approach that delivers on both climate and development priorities, tailored to our needs and communities. We need plans that account for all elements: starting with infrastructure, through policy and regulation to institutional and human capacity,” he declared.
The high-level session also included Comoros President and African Union Chairman Azali Assoumani, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan, Senegalese President Macky Sall, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron, African Development Bank Group President Dr Akinwumi Adesina, and philanthropist Bill Gates.
In his remarks, the President of the African Development Bank Group, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, highlighted initiatives by the institution in response to the climate adaptation needs of Africa, including the launch of a Climate Action Window to mobilise up to $14 billion to support adaptation for 37 low-income countries.
According the African Development Bank, many investment opportunities in climate action and green growth could unlock private finance despite the barriers observed in Africa. It notes that “sectors that will rely on climate-smart and lowcarbon technologies such as renewable energies and electric vehicles, energy-efficient buildings, climate-resilient infrastructure, improved dryland crop production, and water resource resilience—present Africa’s trillion-dollar market opportunities for the private sector.”
He recommends the implementation of appropriate regulatory, policy, and institutional frameworks as essential for turning these sectors into booming markets for private investors.
“Sustainable development, economic growth, and climate action are critical for Africa, and achieving them requires commitments to green growth,” AfDB boss said.
To help support smallholder farmers in Africa who are facing severe consequences from global warming, the Gates Foundation, the charitable foundation of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, and the UAE together committed $200 million.
