The UK announced new funding today to support African governments
to roll-out critical adaptation projects so at-risk communities
can adapt to the impact of extreme weather and changing climates.
COP26 President announced the new UK support
for the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP) – an
initiative endorsed by African Union leaders and led by the
African Development Bank, Global Centre on Adaptation and the
Africa Adaptation Initiative, to back African-led plans to
accelerate resilience-building across Africa.
Today’s announcements came on the second day of COP26, the
two-week UN Climate Change Conference, where world leaders are
meeting with the aim to agree how to tackle the urgent threat of
global climate change.
UK Prime Minister also today announced the UK
is offering an ambitious new guarantee mechanism – the ‘Room to
Run’ guarantee – to the African Development Bank (AfDB). This is
expected to unlock up to £1.45 billion ($2 billion) worth of new
financing for projects across the continent, half of which will
help countries adapt to the impacts of climate change.
UK Foreign Secretary said:
More finance for African nations to develop and adapt to climate
change is important as these countries find themselves on the
frontline of impacts. It is a huge investment opportunity.
By combining our cash with other donors and businesses, and
working with partners such as the African Development Bank to
direct funding into green projects, today we are delivering on
our commitment to African-led climate adaptation.
These were part of a package of UK aid programmes announced today
to support and scale-up African adaptation to climate change,
including:
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A new partnership with the UK’s world-leading Met Office to
boost weather forecasting and early-warning systems so people
living at risk of droughts or floods can take action in
advance of climate shocks – such as providing early storm
warnings so fishing communities on Lake Victoria can take
action that saves lives.
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A new five-year Shock Response Programme to help vulnerable
communities living in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania
and Niger – where 80% of the population rely on agriculture
and livestock for an income – to be more resilient to cope
with climate shocks. Strengthening early-warning systems, the
programme will build government systems to respond to crisis
earlier and reduce the need for humanitarian assistance.
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Delivering on the G7 disaster risk finance commitment in
June, with UK support to help countries get drought and storm
insurance so they can respond quickly when disasters strike.
We and other donors will work together to scale the African
regional insurance scheme to cover $1bn of drought, flood and
storm risk each year from 2025/6.
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The announcement of a landmark programme of innovative
climate research that will turn new discoveries into
actionable solutions to reduce the risks from climate change.
Elements of the programme launched today will focus on
Africa, to ensure science is the foundation of
decision-making as the continent adapts to the changing
climate.
UK Minister for Africa said:
For communities across Africa, the impact of climate change is
being felt right now. From cyclones in Southern Africa to locusts
in East Africa, changing weather patterns are already having
catastrophic impacts for communities living across the continent,
impacting lives and jobs. This is despite African nations being
responsible for just 2-3% of global emissions.
New support announced today will enable African countries to
adapt to a changing climate and build resilience to the impacts
of climate change. This is essential if communities and countries
are to thrive in an uncertain future.
The UK is a long-standing supporter of Africa’s adaptation to
climate change, with around half of the UK’s £2.7 billion ($3.7
billion) adaptation budget between 2016 and 2020 spent in Africa.
Background:
The £143.5 million of programmes to support African countries to
adapt to the impact of extreme weather and changing climate
announced today include:
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£20 million to the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program
(AAAP). This is a $25 billion joint initiative endorsed by
African Union leaders and led by the African Development
Bank, Global Centre on Adaptation and the Africa Adaptation
Initiative, to support African countries in designing and
implementing transformational adaptation of their economies
and post-COVID recovery development paths.
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£42 million of adaptation allocations under the new Africa
Regional Climate and Nature Programme (ARCAN). This will
include support to the World Bank to support cooperation on
the management and development of shared water resources; to
the Met Office’s WISER3 programme to improve the uptake of
weather and climate information; and technical assistance to
African partners to integrate climate considerations into
policy making and access and utilise climate finance to
benefit those most vulnerable.
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At least £22 million of premium financing support to help
African countries pay for drought insurance, delivering on
the £120 million commitment made by the UK at Carbis Bay for
premium financing and investments into the regional risk
pools in Africa, Caribbean, South East Asia and Pacific.
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£19.5 million for the Shock Response Programme in the Sahel,
including support to the World Bank to strengthen government
social protection systems in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali,
Mauritania and Niger that improve people’s ability to cope
when shocks occur; and support to the Centre for Disaster
Protection to improve use of early warning systems and
disaster risk financing.
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The UK has committed £40 million to the Climate Adaptation
and Resilience research programme (CLARE) to support
action-focused research to inform development in a changing
climate in Africa. CLARE is jointly funded by the UK and
Canada. It will generate new knowledge, practical tools and
approaches to support those most vulnerable to the impacts of
climate change and related natural hazards, such as floods,
droughts and heatwaves.
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In addition: A new ‘Room to Run’ guarantee to the African
Development Bank (AfDB) is expected to unlock up to £1.45bn
($2bn) worth of new financing for projects across the
continent, half of which will help countries adapt to the
impacts of climate change. For example, this finance is
expected to support the AfDB’s work on generating
high-quality climate data to help countries plan for future
impacts, building resilient infrastructure and helping
farmers increase their resilience to drought. This will
support the objectives of the Africa Adaptation Acceleration
Programme. The guarantee is subject to Parliamentary
notification and final African Development Bank approval. We
expect the guarantee to be live from early 2022, following
final scrutiny processes and the signing of formal
agreements.
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According to the World Bank, climate change could reduce GDP
by 6% in many African countries by 2050, and up to 132
million people could be pushed into extreme poverty by 2030.
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The UK has also doubled its international climate finance to
£11.6 billion over five years – with a balance between
adaptation and mitigation.
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Adaptation, including increasing finance for adaptation, has
been central to the UK’s COP26 Presidency – under the UK’s
incoming presidency, finance providers have committed to
ambitious increases which collectively amount to billions in
additional finance for adaptation compared to 2020 levels.
