The President of the African Development Bank, Donald Kaberuka has assured representatives of nations that participated in the last UN climate change summit of the institution's support in fighting climate change.
This was expressed during an after-summit meeting with the African Group of Negotiators recently when the ADB announced that the institution is investing USD 8 billion a year to support development investment in Africa.
"Out of this, 60 percent is allocated to infrastructure, especially for providing clean energy and rural electrification facilities to African countries", he said.
Chairman of AGN, Tosi Mpanu-Mpanu, appreciated the Bank’s continuous support and solidarity to the African Group of Negotiators (AGN).
President Kaberuka also assured the AGN, as he did in Copenhagen, that his role in Durban was to re-affirm the necessity of building the capacity of African negotiators that included the technical support provided. He, however, want to improve on this by increasing the number of African delegates attending the negotiation meetings and other climate-related events.
It will be remembered that Africa Development bank had provided funding for participation to about twenty negotiators at every COP meeting and other related meetings. This is in conjunction with provision of interpretation services to negotiators, support for Africa members of the of the Green Climate Fund Transitional Committee for their effective participation in the creation of the Green Climate Fund (GCF).
Speaking further, Donald Kaberuka highlighted the Bank’s climate-related interventions in Africa that include, among others, financing clean energy and adaptation projects and programmes in Africa, and support for the forestry sector through the Congo Basin Forest Fund (CBFF)
He also emphasized that the Bank stands ready to consolidate its financing instruments related to climate change, including the Africa Green Fund, which is being designed as a useful mechanism to finance climate-related interventions in Africa in the coming years.
The AGN unanimously commended the Bank for the services provided to the Africa Group and to support climate-related interventions in Africa. They urged the Bank to continue with the creation of the Africa Green Fund as Africa‘s specific mechanism to address climate finance challenges in Africa.
They also called upon the Bank to focus on adaptation and reducing vulnerability while continuing its efforts to address mitigation in Africa, especially in the forestry sector to support sustainable land management and increase access to carbon market
On the broad framework of the Africa Green Fund, Donald Kaberuka mentioned that creating a new fund is not the problem, but the bottom line is to increase access to existing and future funds. The request of African Heads of States to establish the Africa Green Fund is a response to this challenge
As the President sees it, the Africa Green Fund is not competing with the Green Climate Fund, which is currently being negotiated in Durban. The Bank already has several funding mechanisms, most of them being adaptation-related. These mechanisms are being streamlined through the design of the Africa Green Fund platform. Through that Fund, the Bank is seeking to increase the access of African countries to fast start and long-term financing. For the President, the challenge is not the creation of a Fund but “to fund the Fund”.
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