With three months to go before COP27, the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) reveals a funding crisis for climate change adaptation in Africa. In its new report published on 31 August 2022 in Dakar, Senegal, the organisation says that the cumulative financing for adaptation expected before 2030 will represent less than a quarter of the needs estimated by African countries in their nationally determined contributions (NDCs).
Toute l'actu sur la protection de l'environnement
With three months to go before COP27, the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) reveals a funding crisis for climate change adaptation in Africa. In its new report published on 31 August 2022 in Dakar, Senegal, the organisation says that the cumulative financing for adaptation expected before 2030 will represent less than a quarter of the needs estimated by African countries in their nationally determined contributions (NDCs).
« Financial innovation for climate adaptation in Africa ». This is the title of the new report by the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA). The document was presented on 31 August 2022 during a meeting at the presidential palace in Dakar, Senegal. According to this report, in 2019 and 2020, 11.4 billion dollars would have been allocated to financing adaptation to climate change in Africa, with more than 97% coming from public actors and less than 3% from private sector actors. This is far below the estimated $52.7 billion per year by 2030 for African countries.
The GCA thus points out that the cumulative adaptation financing planned before 2030 will represent less than a quarter of the needs estimated by African countries in their nationally determined contributions (NDCs). To get back on track with climate change adaptation financing, which is progressing very slowly in Africa, the organisation wants to rely on the African Adaptation Acceleration Programme (AAAP), which it has developed with the African Development Bank (AfDB).
Mobilising $25 billion by 2025
By publishing its new report in Senegal, the GCA wants to be able to count on the « bold leadership » of President Macky Sall. « It is essential to accelerate global action on climate adaptation ahead of the African Adaptation Summit on 5 September 2022, » said Dr Patrick Verkooijen, GCA CEO.
« The long-predicted climate emergency is here and is amplifying the global food, energy and fiscal crisis caused by Covid 19 and the war in Ukraine. Africans have contributed virtually nothing to this climate change, yet the continent is suffering far more than other regions of the world, » says President Macky Sall.
The Senegalese president will join other world leaders at the Africa Adaptation Summit at the GCA’s headquarters in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The event will be an important step towards the « African COP » which will take place from 7 to 18 November 2022 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
Fanta Mabo
The African Climate Week, one of the preparatory meetings for the 27th United Nations Climate Conference (COP27), opened on Monday 29 August 2022 in Libreville, Gabon. In the presence of a thousand representatives of governments, international organisations, NGOs and the private sector from all over the continent, the Egyptian Foreign Minister and President of COP27 denounced the climate injustice suffered by Africa. « There will be no reprieve or plan B at COP27, » warned Sameh Choukri.
Africa wants to get out of the climate injustice it has been suffering for years. This is the main objective of the African Climate Week, one of the preparatory meetings for the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27), scheduled for November in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. The aim of this week, which opened on 29 August 2022 in Libreville, Gabon, is to unite African negotiators at COP27 around a common plea.
« The time has come for us Africans to take our destiny into our own hands, » says Gabonese Head of State Ali Bongo Ondimba, deploring the climate situation in Africa in unison with all the speakers. The continent is responsible for less than 4% of global CO2 emissions, but pays the highest price for global warming.
« Africa is obliged, with limited resources and a very low level of support, to spend 3% of its annual GDP to adapt to these impacts », Sameh Choukri, the Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs and President of COP27, added. He also denounced a « climate injustice » and blamed « many developed countries that have reneged on their commitments ». « There will be no reprieve or plan B at COP27, » warned the Egyptian diplomat.
100 million dollars per year is no longer enough
The pressure announced on the G20 countries by the COP27 negotiators is all the more relevant as the effects of climate change are expected to be more severe in Africa.
According to the latest analysis from the Intergovernmental Authority on Development’s (IGAD) regional climate prediction centre, the terrible drought in the Horn of Africa, the worst in 40 years, is likely to get even worse. The rainy season, which runs from October to December with almost 70% of the annual rainfall in some areas, such as eastern Kenya, will be late and with less rainfall, according to Igad.
For Tanguy Gahouma, the chairman of the African negotiating group at COP 26 in 2021 in Glasgow, « the $100 million per year that was promised is no longer relevant because it no longer corresponds to the current objectives. They were promised in Copenhagen (COP15 in 2009, editor’s note) and now we need to move on to new targets that are in line with the realities on the ground. The roadmap from the African Climate Week will be Africa’s common position at COP27.
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COP27 in Africa, “COP27 in Africa, « no further reprieve from climate injustice”
The African Climate Week, one of the preparatory meetings for the 27th United Nations Climate Conference (COP27), opened on Monday 29 August 2022 in Libreville, Gabon. In the presence of a thousand representatives of governments, international organisations, NGOs and the private sector from all over the continent, the Egyptian Foreign Minister and President of COP27 denounced the climate injustice suffered by Africa. « There will be no reprieve or plan B at COP27, » warned Sameh Choukri.
En prélude à la 27e conférence des Nations unies sur le climat (COP27), African Center for Advocacy publie un rapport sur deux communautés camerounaises situées en première ligne de la crise climatique. Le document présente les témoignages des habitants de Kakou et d’Ouro Garga. Deux localités du nord du Cameroun, où les effets du changement climatique ont considérablement affecté les moyens de subsistance des populations.
CAMEROUN: les peuples meurtris par le changement climatique, lèvent la voix vers la COP27
En prélude à la 27e conférence des Nations unies sur le climat (COP27), African Center for Advocacy publie un rapport sur deux communautés camerounaises situées en première ligne de la crise climatique. Le document présente les témoignages des habitants de Kakou et d’Ouro Garga. Deux localités du nord du Cameroun, où les effets du changement climatique ont considérablement affecté les moyens de subsistance des populations.
The non-involvement of women and girls in the water and climate sector is hampering Cameroon’s efforts to achieve universal access to water. The Cameroon National Water Partnership (GWP-Cmr), in collaboration with the Cameroon Ministry for the Promotion of Women and the Family and UN Women organised a gender café on 17 August 2022 in Yaoundé, for the inclusion of women in decision-making circles on the water and climate sector.
Institutional arrangements for the development and management of water resources rarely take into account the primary role of women as the main users of water and custodians of the living environment. This lack of recognition considerably hinders the achievement of objectives in terms of access to water and climate resilience. This is the observation made in Cameroon by the Cameroon National Water Partnership (GWP-Cmr).
To reverse the trend, GWP-Cmr and its partners, the Cameroonian Ministry for the Promotion of Women and the Family (MINPROFF) and UN Women, are campaigning for the inclusion of women and girls in the water and climate sector. During a gender café organised in Yaoundé (capital of Cameroon) on 17 August 2022, these three entities sensitised stakeholders on the socio-cultural constraints and obstacles linked to taking gender into account in the water sector. « The patriarchal system does not give women a voice. They have knowledge that they would like to share, but do not dare to do so, because of shyness and lack of self-confidence that characterise them, due to their family upbringing, » explains Murielle Elouga of GWP-Cmr.
The studies conducted by the organisation show that the distribution of social roles is disadvantageous for women in terms of household water supply. The modes of access to and management of land are still dependent on a customary and patriarchal logic (74.4% of men are landowners against just 39.6% of women). Women are exposed to security crises and demographic pressure on water and land resources.
Including the gender approach in water policies
The three northern regions of Cameroon (Adamaoua, North and Far North) are among the main study areas of GWP-Cmr. According to World Health Organisation (WHO) statistics, these three regions need about 7,500 boreholes to be safe from lack of drinking water. This harsh reality is the result of the low rainfall in this northern part of Cameroon, which has only 30 to 100 days of rain per year.
To effectively eliminate water stress in Cameroonian communities, a consequence of climate change, the GWP-Cmr studies recommend, among other things, the revision of water policies to include gender-transformative approaches that not only recognise the systematic inequalities between men and women, but also address the root causes of these inequalities.
The studies carried out by GWP-Cmr are part of the Water, Climate, Development and Gender Programme (WACDEP-G) implemented by the Global Water Partnership – Central Africa (GWP-Caf). WACDEP-G aims to promote a transformative gender approach in the water and climate sector, addressing gender inequalities. The programme, which started in 2020, will run for three years (2020-2022) and includes capacity building activities for women in the water and climate sector, knowledge sharing, gender institutionalisation in the water and climate sector and fundraising.
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CAMEROON: Marginalisation of women, an obstacle to access to water
The non-involvement of women and girls in the water and climate sector is hampering Cameroon’s efforts to achieve universal access to water. The Cameroon National Water Partnership (GWP-Cmr), in collaboration with the Cameroon Ministry for the Promotion of Women and the Family and UN Women organised a gender café on 17 August 2022 in Yaoundé, for the inclusion of women in decision-making circles on the water and climate sector.
During his official visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on 9 August 2022, the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, recognised the urgent need to preserve the Congo Basin forest. He announced the establishment of a joint DRC/US task force to protect the tropical forest and peatlands of the Congo Basin.
US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Christophe Lutundula, announced the creation of a formal working group to protect the forests and peatlands of the Congo Basin. This was on 9 August 2022, following their meeting in Kinshasa, the capital of the DRC.
Speaking alongside his Congolese counterpart, Blinken said that Kinshasa can help protect the earth’s atmosphere by ensuring that mining and fossil fuel extraction projects only take place after a rigorous environmental impact assessment. With more than 50% of the Congo Basin forests (the second largest tropical forest on the planet), the DRC, which has a key role to play in protecting Africa’s forests, is however embroiled in an oil project, which is deemed to be forest-hostile.
« Country solution » to the climate crisis?
The working group announced by the DRC and the United States of America has caused several conservation organisations to call their bluff. The project comes at a time when the DRC is considering a plan to auction off 26 oil blocks and 3 gas blocks. A decision that would condemn the country and its rich biodiversity to irreversible environmental destruction.
« No new fossil fuel project is compatible with a 1.5 degree world. You cannot extract oil from peatlands and protected areas and claim to be a solution country, » said Irene Wabiwa Betoko, the International Congo Basin Forest Project Manager at Greenpeace Africa.
In a joint statement issued on 10 August 2022, Greenpeace Africa and Greenpeace USA call for the protection of forests and peatlands and an end to oil and gas expansion in the DRC.
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DRC: US pledges support for peatland protection
During his official visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on 9 August 2022, the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, recognised the urgent need to preserve the Congo Basin forest. He announced the establishment of a joint DRC/US task force to protect the tropical forest and peatlands of the Congo Basin.