New research from the Global Center on Adaptation released shows that climate adaptation finance flows to Africa must increase up to ten-fold to over US$100 billion per year by 2035 to build resilience against the growing impacts of climate change. Without such investment, it is estimated that the continent could lose out on as much as USD$6 trillion of economic benefits by 2035 as every $1 invested in adaptation has been shown to generate a return between USD$2 and USD$10.
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Africa’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) currently estimate the continent requires US$52.7 billion a year for adaptation (or 2.5% of its GDP) but this new research reveals this is a vast underestimate as only half of the NDCs (28) calculate costs for adaptation. The NDCs were also prepared at a time when climate impacts were not projected to occur as quickly or as strongly as they are. Of the NDCs that do include adaptation costs, over half (70%) do not allocate the necessary adaptation funding to any specific sector.
Africa only received USD$11.4 billion in adaptation finance in 2019-2020 and the increase in 2021-2022 is likely to be modest. At this rate, Africa will receive USD$182 billion by 2035 for climate adaptation, less than one-tenth of the up to USD$1.7 trillion by 2035 the new research estimates it needs. Loans were the most utilized instrument to deliver adaptation finance in 2019-2020, which combined with surging interest rates, is contributing to Africa’s poorest countries falling into a debt-trap.
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Commenting on the research findings, Professor Patrick Verkooijen, CEO of the Global Center on Adaptation said:
“The impacts of climate change are being felt around the world, but nowhere more acutely than in Africa. Adaptation finance must be scaled up dramatically before it is outstripped by accelerating climate impacts which would further widen the adaptation funding gap. The actions we take now to increase adaptation finance flows to Africa are critical to the continent’s capacity to respond to climate impacts and transform climate adaptation into a growth agenda for the continent.”
Ten African countries (Egypt, Morocco, Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, South Africa, Mozambique, Cote d’Ivoire, Tunisia and Ghana) currently receive over half of the continent’s adaptation finance whilst the ten most climate-vulnerable countries (Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Central African Republic, Chad, Senegal) only receive 18% of Africa’s adaptation finance.
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