Although no corner of the globe is safe, Africa is more vulnerable than any other continent to this planetary crisis. There, it is as if all the negative effects of global warming are amplified: Africa is losing up to 15% of its GDP growth annually to the destructive forces of climate change. Extreme and erratic weather conditions threaten human life, food security, water security and the very foundations of economic development. and life off the land is increasingly untenable for a quarter of a billion people on the continent. The United Nations warns that the world is on course to be 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer over the next two decades than in pre-industrial times. For Africa, climate change is an irreversible reality. It’s too late to turn back the clock. But we have a very narrow window to put coping mechanisms in place. This is why we have two priorities for the upcoming Cop27 UN climate summit in Egypt: to maintain the 1.5 degrees Celsius warming target to avoid even worse effects of climate change and to radically accelerate it climate adaptation action in Africa and all vulnerable people. developing countries around the world. Climate adaptation is also a development agenda. It is about harnessing nature to restore degraded ecosystems. introducing drought-resistant crops, accessible digital services for smallholder farmers and weatherproofing infrastructure; and creating new green jobs for young people. In short, if climate change mitigation is the only way to keep our planet sustainable, climate adaptation is an opportunity to chart a new climate-resilient development path for Africa – one that is smarter, more efficient, more efficient and more productive. Africa has everything it needs to succeed. It has the youngest population of any continent, has conquered countless challenges (including the most recent Covid 19) and its nations are determined to turn the climate crisis into an opportunity. However, Africa needs all hands on deck, including support from the rest of the world to undertake this adjustment programme. At Cop26 in Glasgow last year, developed countries agreed to double funding for adaptation to at least $40 billion annually by 2025. International financial flows from developed countries are essential to support developing countries, as part of much-needed mobilization all sources of funding, international and domestic, public and private, for climate action. It has been estimated that Africa alone needs $52 billion annually, and increased financial support from developed countries, through mechanisms such as the formation of Senegal’s Just Energy Transition Partnership with G7 member countries, should help in enhancing the mobilization of all other funding sources. France and the Netherlands are among the leading countries in supporting adaptation in developing countries, and in particular in Africa. France has committed to providing 6 billion euros a year for climate action in developing countries by 2025, a third of which is for adaptation. The Netherlands recently pledged to increase annual climate finance to at least €1.8 billion by 2025 and double its public finances for climate adaptation. In addition, it will continue to allocate more than half of public climate finance to Africa-focused adaptation and co-host the 2023 UN Water Conference to advance this agenda. It is urgent that all countries deliver on climate finance pledges and pour capital into projects on the ground, such as the Great Green Wall initiative, which is fighting desertification by revitalizing millions of hectares of degraded land, increasing food security, nutrition and agriculture productivity and supporting rural jobs in 11 countries across the Sahel. The initiative revived almost forgotten traditional land management techniques and is proof that Africa has solutions to the climate crisis – more than 11 million trees have been planted in Senegal alone. Building on this initiative, the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP) is a continent-wide project, led and owned by Africa, to prioritize and scale adaptation in agriculture, digital services, infrastructure, entrepreneurship and jobs for young people. The African Development Bank has already allocated half of the $25bn (£22bn) needed for climate adaptation by 2025 and it is already showing results. The ‘African’ Cop27 is an opportunity for all countries in a position to do so to ensure the full capitalization of the AAAP through the African Development Fund’s climate action window and the $250 million AAAP Incremental Financing. With the support of the Global Center for Adaptation, AAAP has already guided over $3.5 billion in upstream investment in 19 countries, with every dollar spent impacting $100 downstream. Adaptation is also about massive investment in the agricultural revolution required in the context of climate change. In this spirit, the International Food and Agriculture Resilience Mission (Farm) launched by France together with its European and international partners already envisages a comprehensive investment package to increase the resilience of African agricultural value chains. We call on all partners to increase their support for this critical initiative. Cop27 is a vital opportunity for the world to support Africa in addressing the impacts of climate change and building pathways to resilience. It is also an opportunity to restore and renew cooperation between the world’s youngest and most promising continent and the global North. But for this to happen, the conference must create a breakthrough in climate adaptation finance and move from words to action. Africa is not passively waiting for this to happen. With the full support of European countries such as France and the Netherlands, it is taking action, but it needs all funders – donors, private funders and philanthropists – to get behind this agenda. If Africa wins, a stronger, greener, more prosperous, sustainable and resilient continent will be everyone’s gain.
