Africa Lack Resources to Tackle Climate Change – AfDB

Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, President, African Development Bank

The President, African Development Bank Group, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, has said that Africa lacks the resources to tackle climate change as the continent receives only three per cent of global climate financing.

This was contained in a statement by the bank’s Abuja office.

It was also disclosed that the bank plans to provide$12.5bn to support the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program.

The African Adaptation Acceleration Programme, which is supported by African Heads of State, was established to mobilize more resources for climate change, to advance the objectives of the African Adaptation Initiative.

Both the AfDB and the Global Centre on Adaptation are mobilising $25bn for this programme over five years, to accelerate and scale climate adaptation action across the continent.

Speaking during the recently concluded Africa Climate Adaptation Summit held in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Adesina was quoted in the statement as saying, “Africa does not have the resources to tackle climate change. The continent receives only three per cent of global climate financing. If this trend continues, Africa’s climate financing gap will reach $100bn to $127bn per year through 2030

“The current climate financing architecture is not meeting the needs of Africa. New estimates by the African Economic Outlook of the African Development Bank show that Africa will need between 1.3 and $1.6tn between 2020-2030, or $118bn to $ 145bn annually, to implement its commitments to the Paris Agreement and its nationally determined contributions.”