African Union welcomes the Netherlands’ contribution of €110 million for the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program at COP27
S
harm El Sheikh, Egypt, 7th November 2022 – The African Union (AU) welcomed the Netherlands’ contribution of €110 million in support of the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP) ahead of the COP27 Leaders’ Event on Accelerating Adaptation in Africa.
The Prime Minister of Netherlands Mark Rutte announced the financial commitment during a high-level meeting with Senegal’s President Macky Sall who is also the Chairperson of the African Union, Patrick Verkooijen, CEO of the Global Center on Adaptation, and the President of the African Development Bank Group Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina.
President Sall underlined the importance of action over words as world leaders meet this week to discuss the global response to the climate emergency, highlighting that “Africa is ground zero for the global climate breakdown. Nobody benefits if Africa fails to tackle it. The AAAP is Africa’s response to the climate crisis to leverage investments in adaptation and resilience not just to protect ourselves from the threat of climate change, but to drive a green economic growth agenda for prosperity.”
Prime Minister Rutte said “We have to face reality: climate change is already having lasting effects. Climate resilience must be our motto, climate adaptation our common endeavour. Adapting to climate change is in the DNA of the Netherlands and it is vital that we work with our partners in Africa to ensure investments flow through the bold and innovative roadmap that AAAP delivers for climate-proofing cities, farms, and infrastructure, to protect livelihoods and to ensure economic continuity.”
AAAP was developed by African Development Bank and the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) to mobilize $25 billion by 2025 to implement, scale and accelerate climate adaptation across the African continent. This ambition is delivered through the AAAP Upstream Financing Facility managed by the Global Center on Adaptation and the African Development Bank’s climate action window which is developed in the context of the 16th replenishment of the African Development Fund, the Bank’s concessional arm that supports the continent’s low-income countries.
AAAP works across four bold interconnected pillars to achieve transformational results: Climate-Smart Digital Technologies for Agriculture and Food Security; African Infrastructure Resilience Accelerator; Youth Empowerment for Entrepreneurship and Job Creation in Climate Adaptation and Resilience; and Innovative Financial Initiatives for Africa. AAAP has already guided over $3.5 billion of upstream investments in 19 countries with every dollar spent influencing $100 downstream.
Professor Patrick Verkooijen, CEO of the Global Center on Adaptation welcomed the financial contribution from the Netherlands, thanking Prime Minister Rutte and President Sall for their leadership on climate adaptation in Africa to mobilize the global community to honor their commitment of doubling global climate finance at COP27: “AAAP’s catalytic interventions have already rapidly delivered impact at scale by mainstreaming adaptation into projects worth over $3.5 billion since 2021. The Netherlands’ support of €10 million for the AAAP Upstream Financing Facility will influence investments in adaptation worth a further €1 billion for Africa.”
“This scale of impact is vital as Africa – indeed the world – is confronting multiple global shocks that are reverberating through our economies. AAAP gives impetus to the critical actions and global finance needed to address the climate and food crisis today, and to build a more resilient continent.”
Speaking at the high-level meeting, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank said: “The €100 million financial support from the Netherlands towards the AAAP Climate Action Window of the African Development Fund is a major impetus for our efforts to bolster support for low-income countries of Africa that are most vulnerable to climate change.”
“It is a great start as we accelerate efforts to mobilize more climate adaptation financing for Africa through the AAAP. This is a great outcome right here at COP27 – the Africa COP – with a concrete action from Netherlands on adaptation finance for Africa. We look forward to other countries stepping up for climate adaptation in Africa as we approach the 16th replenishment of the African Development Fund in December.” Adesina said.
Notes to Editors
About the Global Center on Adaptation
The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) is an international organization which works as a solutions broker to accelerate action and support for adaptation solutions, from the international to the local, in partnership with the public and private sector. Founded in 2018, GCA operates from its headquarters in the largest floating office in the world, located in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. GCA has a worldwide network of regional offices in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire; Dhaka, Bangladesh and Beijing, China.
For interview requests and additional information:
Alex Gee
Head of Communications
Global Center on Adaptation
alex.gee@gca.org
Chinedu Moghalu
Senior Communication Advisor to the CEO
Global Center on Adaptation
chinedu.moghalu@gca.org
