Photo: Moustafa Cheaiteli/African Development Bank
The Netherlands and GCA join forces to scale Africa’s Adaptation Transformation
R
otterdam, the Netherlands, 15th September 2023 – The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) entered a new partnership agreement with the Government of the Netherlands on 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 will be used to integrate adaptation solutions and best practices into €1 billion in downstream investments across Africa.
Noting the widening adaptation finance gap for Africa, Professor Patrick Verkooijen said:
“The Netherlands knows first-hand the critical need to invest in adaptation, not just to protect people and economies but to serve as a driver of growth and prosperity. The AAAP draws from these global experiences and has demonstrated that it is indeed possible to narrow the adaptation financing gap for adaptation in Africa by influencing the design of investments worth more than $5.4 billion in its first two years of implementation. This grant and GCA’s broader partnership with the Netherlands will help ensure that the AAAP can continue scaling adaptation action for Africa.”
The grant will support the activities of the AAAP’s four pillars: Food Security, Infrastructure and Nature-based Solutions, Youth Entrepreneurship and Adaptation Jobs, and Adaptation Finance.
Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands Sigrid Kaag said:
“The world is off track to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees and to adapt to the impacts of climate change. We are leaving over half the world behind and are crossing our planetary boundaries. Make no mistake: The challenge we face is enormous. I’m glad we take another step today, relatively small and modest maybe, but a necessary one in an effort to support vulnerable countries who suffer often the most from climate change but are not the big polluters historically. Of course, the Netherlands does much more and we will remain committed. We have to work together to solve this problem.”
The AAAP is a joint initiative of the African Development Bank and the Global Center on Adaptation to mobilize $25 billion, over five years, to accelerate and scale climate adaptation action across the continent. The AAAP Upstream Financing Facility, hosted by GCA, is the delivery mechanism for adaptation, and has already influenced more than $5.4 billion in upstream investments that aim to strengthen resilience for up to 35 million people and generate 630,000 jobs by supporting the implementation of adaptation activities across Africa.
Notes to Editors
About the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA)
The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) is an international organization that 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 sectors. 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.
