UK steps up climate adaptation support for Africa
Britain has announced a significant increase in its financial support for the poorest African countries bearing the brunt of climate change.
Speaking to African leaders at COP27 in the Egyptian city of Sharm El Sheikh, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly confirmed that the UK will provide £200 million to the African Development Bank Group’s Climate Action Window, a new mechanism set up to channel climate finance to help the vulnerable. countries are adapting to the effects of climate change.
A number of countries on the continent have experienced extreme weather conditions from severe drought in Somalia to floods in South Sudan.
Secretary of State James Cleverly said: “Climate change is having a devastating impact on some of the poorest countries in sub-Saharan Africa, but historically they have received a small share of climate finance“, Smart said, adding, “This new mechanism from the African Development Bank will ensure that vital funds are delivered to those most affected by the effects of climate change, much faster.“
The British Foreign Secretary noted, “Access to climate finance for emerging economies was a key focus at COP26 in Glasgow and I am pleased to see concrete progress being made, supported today by £200m of UK funding.”
Climate change has a disproportionate impact on the 37 poorest and least creditworthy countries in Africa. Nine out of ten countries most vulnerable to climate change are in Africa.
The Glasgow Climate Pact included a commitment from donors to double adaptation financing between 2019 and 2025.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced at the weekend that the UK will exceed this target, tripling adaptation funding from £500 million in 2019 to £1.5 billion by 2025. This funding package given to the African Development Bank will be 100% earmarked for adaptation.
The Prime Minister also confirmed yesterday that the UK is delivering on its target of spending £11.6 billion on International Climate Finance (ICF) between 2021/22 and 2025/26.
The President of the African Development Bank Group, Akinwumi Adesina welcomed the additional funding from the UK and said:
“I applaud the UK Government for this major contribution to the capitalization of the Climate Action Window of the African Development Fund, as it seeks to raise more funding to support vulnerable low-income African countries most affected by climate change. This bold move and support from the UK will strengthen our collective efforts to build climate resilience for African countries. With increasing frequencies of droughts, floods and cyclones devastating economies, the UK’s support for climate adaptation is timely, necessary and inspiring to close the climate adaptation finance gap for Africa.”
“I came to COP 27 in Egypt with climate adaptation challenges for Africa at the forefront of my mind. The support from the UK has given hope. I encourage others to follow this leadership on climate adaptation shown by the UK“, Adesina said.
