African Risk Capacity (ARC) welcomed leading partners in Africa’s climate and food security space to the Africa Climate Roundtable this week.
Held in Johannesburg South Africa from 7th to 8th of May, the Roundtable addressed key challenges facing Africa’s climate action and food security landscape, seeking to drive collaboration, innovation and the coordination of efforts between countries as well as financial institutions.
A global audience of attendees included policymakers, industry leaders and researchers exploring innovative technologies and strategies aimed at mitigating climate change impacts and promoting sustainability.
Key takeaways from the Roundtable included:
Accelerate Funding to Africa: Financial commitments made at climate conventions need to be honoured, and existing climate funds must be accessible and efficiently managed. The focus should be on adaptation measures, attracting private sector capital, and leveraging domestic resources. Issues include:
Attracting more private sector capital to adaptation efforts by selling the opportunities, rather than positioning the issue as a social one.
Developing risk-sharing models to attract private investment into climate change initiatives, particularly adaptation. The AGF guarantees for SME lending is one example. More need to be developed in collaboration with financial institutions and other stakeholders, or shared, where they exist.
Mobilising Development Finance Institutions to leverage their balance sheets and risk profile to provide more affordable and accessible finance.
Domestic resource mobilisation efforts must be leveraged to boost climate funding at source. Resources include the capital assets of the African banking network, capital markets, diaspora funds, African Private Equity funds and pension funds.
Learn from previous setback in disbursements and access to funding. Ensure the Loss and Damage Fund is effective and accessible.
Climate Resources & Capacity Building: Africa has an abundance of climate resources, but lacks the capacity to access and absorb funds to manage them. Building human capital, enhancing data collection and raising awareness at government-level are key areas that need to be urgently addressed. R&D must be linked to improving the models and efficiencies of current programmes. Organizations such as the African Capacity Building Foundation must be tapped.
Local Context: Climate finance should be demand-driven and take into account local knowledge and concerns. Engaging with communities, tapping into African expertise, and maintaining this standpoint in engagements with international organisations are crucial to achieving this.
Unity & Collaboration: A more regional approach to climate strategies and project preparation is needed, along with more and better collaboration among stakeholders. A more regional approach to Nationally Determined Contributions could be more effective in distributing resources, attracting investment and offsetting capacity issues.
Leveraging Technology: This is essential for improving early warning efforts and effective disaster management, as well as helping governments make informed decisions and guide responses that mitigate social impacts.
Common African Position: Ahead of the November 2024 COP29 in Baku Azerbaijan, key asks by Africa need to be agreed upon, such as better collaboration, stronger representation in decision-making structures, and reforms to the decision-making process.
Africa Climate Roundtable’s convening partners included: Afreximbank; African Adaptation Initiative; African Capacity Building Foundation; African Risk Capacity; African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD); Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa; Global Green Growth Institute; UN Habitat; and the United Nations World Food Programme.