from GISELE KOUASSI in Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire
Cote d’Ivoire Bureau
YAMOUSSOUKRO, (CAJ News) – AS the globe prepares for the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Belém, Brazil, the urgency of the climate crisis in Africa has never been clearer.
Eight out of the ten countries most affected by climate change sit on this continent — battling extreme droughts, devastating cyclones and floods that threaten food security, displace communities and crush fragile public budgets.
In response, the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has rolled out a suite of innovative financial instruments to help African nations adapt and transition to low-carbon development.
From its Climate Investment Fund (CIF) to the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), the Bank has supported projects such as a 50-hectare forest restoration initiative in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the 32 MW Ilute solar project in Zambia.
These programmes deliver real change — but they cannot compensate for the vast scale of need across the continent.
African countries continue to lose 7 % to 15 % of their gross domestic product (GDP) due to climate impacts yet receive less than 3 % of global climate finance.
Moreover, much of the funding comes in the form of loans rather than grants, trapping vulnerable nations in spiralling debt.
Meanwhile, many developed countries have fallen short on their commitments under the Paris Agreement and its promise of US$100 billion annually for climate support — a pledge now officially overdue by years.
At COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, the draft texts were branded “totally unacceptable and inadequate” by African negotiators.
The message is blunt: Africa did not cause the climate crisis but is paying the price for it. Until the developed world honours its commitments and shifts from token gestures to real, grant-based financing, initiatives like those from the AfDB whilst commendable, will not be enough.
African nations are ready to act — now they need the funding and the fairness to go with it.
– CAJ News