The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved the creation of the Africa Climate Change Fund (ACCF), a bilateral thematic trust fund to support African countries in their transition to climate-resilient and low-carbon development.
The AfDB will host and manage the ACCF, which was created with a €4.725 million contribution from Germany for an initial three-year period. The aim is to scale-up to a multi-donor trust fund as soon as at least one new donor commits to join. The ACCF will complement the bank’s own resources as well as the multilateral funds for which the AfDBis an implementing agency. The bank is progressively mainstreaming climate change mitigation and adaptation into its development activities. According to the AfDB, many African countries are ill-prepared to access international climate finance and need to devise plans to build a more climate-resilient and low carbon future. Africa is the most vulnerable continent to the impacts of climate change, yet the region receives a very small share of climate finance as compared to other continents, tells the AfDB’s Director Energy, Environment and Climate Change Department and Chairperson of the bank’s Climate Change Coordination Committee, Alex Rugamba.“I strongly believe it is the responsibility of the bank to help African countries access international climate finance to support their transition towards climate smart development. This fund will help facilitate countries’ access to the financing they need to protect their economies and environmental assets in the face of climate change,” says Rugamba.
The ACCF will allow for a variety of activities that countries need for the transition to climate smart development, with the aim of generating transformational change in the medium to long term. Areas of intervention include climate finance readiness, climate change and green growth mainstreaming, preparation and financing of adaptation and mitigation projects, knowledge management and information sharing related to climate change, capacity building, preparation of climate resilient and low carbon strategies and policies, analytical work related to green growth, advocacy, and outreach. At the international level, 50% of the Green Climate Fund’s (GCF) total allocation will target adaptation to climate change. The most vulnerable countries, primarily African countries, will be given priority. The first call of proposals is expected to take place within the next two months, and will focus on climate finance readiness. Grant recipients may include African Governments, NGOs, research institutions, and regional institutions.
