New World Bank Group plan calls for $16b to fund Africa climate change efforts
The World Bank Group is calling for $16 billion in funding in a new plan to help African people and countries adapt to climate change and build up the continent’s resilience to climate shocks, and one third of the funds are expected to come from the Bank’s fund for the poorest countries.
“Sub-Saharan Africa is highly vulnerable to climate shocks, and our research shows that could have far-ranging impact — on everything from child stunting and malaria to food price increases and droughts.
“This plan identifies concrete steps that African governments can take to ensure that their countries will not lose hard-won gains in economic growth and poverty reduction, and they can offer some protection from climate change,” the World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim was cited as saying in a press release issued Tuesday November 25, 2015.
According to the Bank, the Africa Climate Business Plan titled Accelerating Climate-Resilient and Low-Carbon Development, will be presented at COP21, the global climate talks in Paris, on November 30.
The Bank reiterating the need for funding in Africa’s climate efforts, notes in the plan that per current estimates, the region requires $5-10 billion per year to adapt to global warming of 2°C.
The release states that the Bank and the United Nations Environment Programme estimate that the cost of managing climate resilience will continue to rise to $20-50 billion by mid-century, and closer to $100 billion in the event of a 4°C warming.
“Of the $16.1 billion that the ambitious plan proposes for fast-tracking climate adaptation, some $5.7 billion is expected from the International Development Association (IDA), the arm of the World Bank Group that supports the poorest countries. About $2.2 billion is expected from various climate finance instruments, $2.0 billion from others in the development community, $3.5 billion from the private sector, and $0.7 billion from domestic sources, with an additional $2.0 billion needed to deliver on the plan,” the statement said.
According to the statement, the plan warns that unless decisive action is taken, climate variability and change could seriously jeopardize the region’s hard-won development gains and its aspirations for further growth and poverty reduction. And it comes in the wake of Bank analysis which indicates climate change could push up to 43 million more Africans into poverty by 2030.
By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi