The African Development Bank has recently announced its accreditation as a multilateral implementing entity and intermediary to the Green Climate Fund (GCF), further enabling it to scale-up financing necessary to address the impacts of climate change.
The GCF is a fund within the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) founded as a mechanism to assist developing countries to adapt and militate against the adverse effects of climate change.
Its investment priorities target many of the continent’s priority areas such as expanding sustainable climate-smart agriculture, transforming energy generation and increasing energy access, scaling-up finance for forest protection, and enhancing resilience of small island developing states.
Between 2011 and 2015, as part of its Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP), the AfDB mobilized approximately US $12 billion of climate finance to support climate-resilient and low-carbon development in Africa, but Africa still lags behind other regions in attracting necessary funds to implement climate-smart initiatives.
With new GCF funds now available to be channeled through the AfDB, African countries will have additional resources to access. Moving forward, AfDB will focus efforts on working with member states to bring proposals forward for GCF funding consideration.
Speaking after the announcement at the GCF Board meeting, Alex Rugamba, the Energy, Environment, and Climate Change Director and Chair of the AfDB Climate Change Coordination Committee, said, “AfDB is committed to significantly scale-up its climate finance to US $5 billion per year by 2020 to support adaptation and mitigation challenges in Africa.
Partnering with the GCF will be essential to meet this target. Not only will AfDB be able to help channel new GCF resources, it can also blend GCF funding with AfDB’s own resources, or with other third-party financing.”
The AfDB has been involved in the design of the GCF since its inception and has followed as an observer in GCF board meetings. After the historic international climate agreement reached during COP21 in Paris last December, the Bank’s accreditation sends an additional positive message to Africa.
The GCF Board is holding its 12th meeting in Songdo, South Korea, this week, during which a total of thirteen new implementing entities, including the AfDB, were approved for accreditation, expanding the network of GCF-accredited partners to 33.
In addition to the GCF, the AfDB already serves as an implementing agency of the Global Environment Facility, the Climate Investment Funds, and the Kyoto Protocol’s Adaptation Fund. The AfDB also hosts and manages several internal climate-related instruments such as the Africa Climate Change Fund, the African Water Facility, the ClimDev-Africa Special Fund, and the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa.
