COP29: African Leaders Urge Rapid Increase in Climate Finance for Adaptation and Green Growth

“We hope to move from millions and billions (of dollars) to the thousands of billions of dollars Africa clearly needs for climate action. The success of this COP, described as the “finance COP,” will largely depend on the level of ambition of the climate finance target.”

The words of Kevin Kariuki, Vice President of the African Development Bank Group for Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth, resonated on Wednesday, 13 November, as a compelling call for action to the international community meeting at the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Dr. Kariuki made the call at a high-level session entitled “Increasing finance for adaptation to climate change and green growth in Africa,” jointly hosted by the African Union Commission, the African Development Bank Group, the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), and the African Union Development Agency’s New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD) as part of Africa Day.

Africa Day serves as a platform for African Heads of State and Government, leaders of regional institutions, ministers, researchers, leaders in the private sector and financial institutions, civil society organizations, development partners, and other stakeholders to address shared challenges, reaffirm Africa’s priorities during the annual global climate conference. It also allows the continent’s leaders to deliberate and propose ways forward on critical issues relating to climate change and other development challenges.

Although Africa contributes less than 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions, it bears a disproportionate load of the climate crisis. At the same time, the continent receives just 3 to 4% of global climate finance, although it is home to nine of the ten countries that are most vulnerable to climate change. Kariuki stated that the aim is to increase this to 10% by 2030...Read more on AfDB

Source: AfDB