UK pledges £200m in new climate financing for Africa
The UK has promised a major increase in its financial assistance to the most underdeveloped nations in Africa that suffer the most from climate change.
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, while speaking alongside African leaders at COP27 in the Egyptian city of Sharm El Sheikh., announced that the UK will contribute £200 million to the African Development Bank Group’s Climate Action Window, a new mechanism established to channel climate finance to assist vulnerable countries adapt to the effects of climate change.
Extreme weather has affected a number of the continent’s nations, ranging from flooding in South Sudan to a severe drought in Somalia.
James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, said: “Climate change is having a devastating impact on some of the poorest countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, but historically they have received a tiny proportion of climate finance,” he continued, adding that “this new mechanism from the African Development Bank will see vital funds delivered to those most affected by the impacts of climate change, much more quickly.”
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Access to climate finance for developing nations was a major focus at COP26 in Glasgow, and the UK Foreign Secretary said, “I’m pleased to see tangible progress being made, supported today by £200 million of UK funding.”
Climate change has a disproportionate impact on the 37 poorest and least creditworthy countries in Africa. Nine out of ten most vulnerable countries to climate change are in Africa.
The Glasgow Climate Pact included a commitment from donors to double adaptation finance between 2019 and 2025.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced at the weekend that the UK will surpass that target and triple adaptation funding from £500 million in 2019 to £1.5 billion by 2025. This funding package provided to the African Development Bank will be 100% preferenced for adaptation.
The UK is meeting its goal of investing £11.6 billion on International Climate Finance (ICF) between 2021–2022 and 2025–2026, the Prime Minister added in a statement yesterday.
Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank Group, welcomed the additional financing from the UK and stated,
“I applaud the UK government for this major contribution towards the capitalization of the Climate Action Window of the African Development Fund, as it seeks to raise more financing to support vulnerable low-income African countries that are most affected by climate change. This bold move and support of the UK will strengthen our collective efforts to build climate resilience for African countries. With increasing frequencies of droughts, floods and cyclones that are devastating economies, the UK support for climate adaptation is timely, needed, and inspiring in closing the climate adaptation financing gap for Africa.”
“I came to COP 27 in Egypt with challenges of climate adaptation for Africa topmost on my mind. The support of the UK has given hope. I encourage others to follow this leadership on climate adaptation shown by the UK”, said Adesina.
