GCA CEO joins forces with President William S. Ruto to drive adaptation implementation and loss and damage financing ahead of COP28
GCA Prof. Dr. Patrick Verkooijen met with President William S. Ruto during an official visit to Kenya to discuss collaborating on accelerating adaptation implementation and loss and damage financing on the road to COP28
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airobi, Kenya, 1st February 2023 – The CEO of the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) Prof. Dr. Patrick Verkooijen met President William S. Ruto on 31st January 2023 during an official visit to Kenya.
Prof. Verkooijen and President Ruto discussed joining forces in Kenya’s role as Chair of the Committee of African Heads of State & Government on Climate Change of the African Union, for an Africa Climate Summit to drive the implementation of the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP), and financing for loss and damage. The Africa Climate Summit, to be held on 4th September 2023, will forge a special leadership pathway as a critical stepping stone towards COP28.
In a show of support for the AAAP, President Ruto delivered a statement at the COP27 Leaders’ Event: Accelerating Adaptation Africa held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt last November. President Ruto recognized the important role played by the AAAP, an initiative led jointly by GCA and the African Development Bank (AfDB) to mobilize $25 billion by 2025 to scale up transformative actions to accelerate adaptation, and to address the impacts of Covid-19 and climate change on the African continent.
In his statement at COP27, President Ruto also called for loss and damage financing in solidarity with the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), an international partnership of countries highly vulnerable to a warming planet. GCA is a managing partner of the CVF.
During their meeting, Prof. Verkooijen updated President Ruto on the implementation progress of the AAAP. Through its Climate-Smart Digital Technologies for Agriculture and Food Security Pillar, AAAP is aimed at scaling up access to climate-smart digital technologies, and associated data-driven agricultural and financial services for at least 30 million farmers in Africa.
In line with this goal, Prof. Verkooijen delivered the opening address to the Regional Forum on the Future of Resilient Food Systems in Africa – AAAP Digital Solutions for a Changing Climate during his visit to Kenya. The three-day regional training brought together stakeholders from ministries of agriculture, related government agencies, public research institutions, farmer organizations, universities and non-profit organizations working on climate adaptation for food security in Eastern Africa region to promote digital climate-informed solutions as a tool for tackling the impacts of climate change. The training was jointly organized by GCA, the African Development Bank, and the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies of the University of Nairobi.
Last December, Prof. Verkooijen traveled to Kenya to launch Locally Led Planning: A Guide for Building Climate Resilience in Urban Informal Settlements together with the First Lady of Kenya Rachel Ruto. Prepared under the AAAP by GCA in cooperation with Akiba Mashinani Trust and other partners, the guide captures lessons and practices from the groundbreaking work implemented by the community and local government in Mukuru, Nairobi, to develop and implement a community-based program for upgrading the informal settlement.
At the launch, three Kenyan winners of the 2021 African Youth Adaptation Solutions Challenge (YouthADAPT Challenge), Eric Bosire of Irri-Hub Ke Limited Carolyne Mwangi of Kimplanter Seedlings and Nurseries and Maryanne Gichanga of Agritech Analytics shared how the AAAP’s YouthADAPT Challenge has helped them scale up their businesses’ climate adaptation solutions.
The YouthADAPT Challenge is an annual competition and awards program for youth-led enterprises (50% women-led) jointly organized by the GCA, the African Development Bank and Climate Investment Funds (CIF) under the AAAP. The current cycle of the challenge is supporting two more Kenyan winners, Esther Kimani of Farmer Lifeline Technologies and Maryanne Gichanga of Agritech Analytics.
