World Bank unveils plan to help Africa fight climate change

A £10.6 billion plan to help Africa cope with rising temperatures and be more resilient to climate “shocks” has been unveiled by the World Bank.

The president of the institution, Jim Yong Kim, said, via statement, that the continent, specially the Sub-Saharan Africa region, is very vulnerable to climate change, which cause a wide range of problems, from child malnourishment to malaria outbreaks, prolonged droughts and surge in food prices.

“This plan identifies concrete steps that African governments can take to ensure that their countries will not lose hard-won gains in economic growth and poverty reduction, and they can offer some protection from climate change”, he added in a statement. And it comes in the wake of Bank analysis which indicates climate change could push up to 43 million more Africans into poverty by 2030.

Enabling resilience by providing essential data, information and decision-making tools for promoting climate-resilient development across sectors through strengthening hydro-met systems at the regional and country level, and through building the capacity to plan and design climate-resilient investments.

Three areas of action are identified in the plan.

The report also points out that there is a way to prevent impoverishment of people and this requires that poverty reduction and development work continue as a priority while taking into account a changing climate.

At present, the funding for adaptation are about $3 billion per year, which is insufficient to finance current needs, and is not increasing at the necessary rate to meet future needs, said World Bank. The African Development Bank (AfDB) last month said it will boost its climate financing to $5 billion per year by 2020. This warming will bring about important impacts, including loss of cropland, decline in crop production, worsening undernourishment, higher drought risks, and decline in fish catches; (2) while the World Bank strongly supports the achievement of an ambitious agreement in Paris to reduce emissions, there is a considerable risk that further warming might materialize (if an agreement is not reached or if it is not fully enforced).

Strengthening resilience: this involves initiatives aimed at improving Africa’s natural capital (oceans, forests and landscapes), physical capital (transport infrastructure and cities), and human & social capital, including social protection for more vulnerable individuals against climate shocks. The plan aims to help raise awareness and accelerate resource mobilization for the region’s critical climate-resilience and low-carbon initiatives. “We look forward to working with African governments and development partners, including the private sector, to move this plan forward and deliver climate smart development”.