Africa is losing between 5% and 15% of GDP per capita growth due to climate change and related impacts, but between 2022 and 2030 it needs about $1.6 trillion to meet its national contribution. [1]- says acting chief economist and vice president of the African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) Kevin Urama.
Speaking at a panel discussion titled “African Ownership in Setting the Climate Agenda” on the sidelines of the Egypt International Cooperation Forum (www.EgyptICF-AfricanMinisters.com) (Egypt-ICF 2022) in Cairo on Wednesday, Urama called on developed countries to overcome the “climate finance gap”.
Several senior officials represented the bank at the event, notably its Vice President for Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth, Dr. Kevin Kariuki and Vice President for Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialization, Mr. Solomon Kuynar.
“Collectively, African countries received only $18.3 billion in climate finance between 2016 and 2019,” Urama said. “This leads to a climate finance shortfall of up to $1,288.2 billion annually from 2020 to 2030.”
The chief economist added: “These amounts reflect the crisis. Climate change is seriously affecting Africa, while the continent generates only 3% of global emissions. The global community must meet its $100 billion commitment to help developing countries and African economies mitigate and adapt to climate change. Investing in climate adaptation in the context of sustainable development is the best way to deal with the effects of climate change, adding that gas must remain part of the continent’s clean energy transition plan.”
Urama emphasized that since the 1850s, countries have managed to move away from coal and use gas as a transition to cleaner energy. He also affirmed that Africa has great potential in terms of green investment opportunities that the private sector, including banks, can tap into.
Egypt’s Minister of Environmental Protection, Yasmin Fouad, presented Egypt’s National Strategy for Agreement on both Climate Mitigation and Adaptation. She said it has five key pillars.
Fouad explained: “The first pillar focuses on how we can adopt a low-greenhouse pathway that focuses on sectors around renewable transport, gas, industry and waste. The second has to do with adaptation and how best to make communities more resilient. The third and fourth focus on how to protect coastal areas and make water more available and accessible. The latter is about the need to develop more intelligent and integrated ideas, and this is the stereotype of the climate strategy.
Fouad added: “To fight climate change, you cannot rely on the government or the private sector, but it is an integration between the government, civil society and the private sector.”
Gada Walli, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and Director-General of the UN Office in Vienna, said: “Women and youth are among Africa’s best assets, and emphasized the importance of exploring ways to harness this important asset for the continent’s sustainable development.”
[1] Nationally Determined Contributions or “NDCs” are submitted by countries under the Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. These are climate action commitments that aim to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees C, to 1.5 degrees C above pre-industrial levels.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of the African Development Bank (AfDB).
About the African Development Bank Group:
The African Development Bank Group is a major financial institution in Africa. It consists of three separate entities: the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Development Fund (ADF) and the Nigeria Trust Fund (NTF). Operating in 41 African countries with an external office in Japan, the Bank contributes to the economic development and social progress of its 54 regional member states. For more information: www.AfDB.org
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