Dr. Chrysoula Zacharopoulou, French Minister of State for Development and International Partnerships joins GCA Advisory Board
S
eptember 2023 – Following the invitation of the Chairman of the Board of the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) and 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, the French Minister of State for Development, Francophonie and International Partnerships, Dr. Chrysoula Zacharopoulou, has agreed to join the Advisory Board of GCA.
At COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt in November 2022, Dr. Zacharopoulou signed a partnership agreement between GCA and the Government of France for a €10 million grant contributing towards the Upstream Financing Facility of the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP). With the AAAP’s 1:100 influencing ratio, the grant is used to integrate adaptation solutions and best practices into €1 billion in downstream investments across Africa. The grant runs until December 2024 and supports the activities of the AAAP’s four pillars: Food security, Infrastructure and Nature-based Solutions, Youth Entrepreneurship and Adaptation Jobs, and Adaptation Finance.
France already plays a leading role in fighting global food insecurity. In 2022, President Macron announced the launch of the Food and Agriculture Resilience Mission (FARM) in collaboration with the African Union, an international initiative to strengthen food security in the world’s most vulnerable countries. Aligned with the AAAP, FARM’s objective is to curb the compounded effects of the climate emergency, the war in Ukraine, and the COVID-19 pandemic on agricultural markets and food production systems. The grant to the AAAP’s Upstream Financing Facility targets FARM’s goals for the African continent.
Dr. Chrysoula Zacharopoulou, Minister of State for Development, Francophonie and International Partnerships, on the announcement of her appointment to the Board, said:
“France and the European Union are leading providers of adaptation finance. Each year, France provides more than €2 billion to vulnerable countries and populations to support adaptation projects and policies. We need to do more, but we also need to do better: That was one of the key messages of the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact that President Macron convened in Paris in June. That is also why we support innovative programs such as GCA’s AAAP, to originate, design and scale quality adaptation projects throughout Africa.”
Co-Chairman of the Board of the Global Center on Adaptation, and 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon said:
“France is highly committed to tackling climate change and supporting adaptation in African countries. I am delighted Dr. Chrysoula Zacharopoulou has agreed to join our Advisory Board and help us work with every sector and every contribution possible to see off the climate crisis in Africa.”
Professor Patrick Verkooijen, CEO of the Global Center on Adaptation said:
“Africa has contributed the least to global climate change but is undertaking the biggest efforts to adapt to its impacts. Its transition to a more resilient future has already begun. I am greatly looking forward to working with Dr. Chrysoula Zacharopoulou’s to help us navigate our future strategy and mobilize the technical and financial resources for scaling up transformative adaptation through the AAAP.”
