AfDB pledges $25 billion to climate finance for 2020-2025

The African Development Bank will double its climate finance commitments for the period 2020-2025, the Bank’s President announced at the One Planet Summit taking place in Nairobi. 
 

Akinwumi A. Adesina said that the Bank would commit at least US$25 billion towards climate finance.

Speaking at a plenary in the presence of Heads of State, including President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, and French President Emmanuel Macron, Adesina also announced the Bank is on course to achieve its target of allocating 40% of its funding to climate finance by 2020, a year ahead.

The Bank’s commitment on the target, the highest among all multilateral development banks, has progressed steadily from 9% in 2016 to 28% in 2017 and 32% in 2018.

Considering Africa’s high vulnerability despite contributing the least to climate change, the African Development Bank has successfully raised its adaptation finance from less than 30% of total climate finance to parity with mitigation in 2018. The African Development Bank will continue this trend into the future.

“The required level of financing is only feasible with the direct involvement of the entire financial sector,” said Adesina. “Consequently, the Bank launched the African Financial Alliance for Climate Change (AFAC) to link all stock exchanges, pension and sovereign wealth funds, central Banks and other financial institutions of Africa to mobilize and incentivize the shift of their portfolios towards low carbon and climate resilient investments.”

The Bank made another milestone announcement. “It is not good enough to simply ask countries to stay away from polluting technologies,” Adesina said. “We have to be proactive in exploring alternatives. We will therefore be launching the ‘green baseload’ facility under the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA 2.0) to provide concessional finance and technical assistance to support the penetration and scale-up of renewable energy, to provide affordable and reliable renewable energy baseload.”

Several donors, including Canada, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Italy, the UK and USAID have indicated their interest in this transformative instrument, which will also help to replace coal. The African Development Bank has played a critical role in building Africa’s clean energy capacities. The Bank’s last investment in a coal project was 10 years ago. Additionally, and in line with its ambitious New Deal on Energy for Africa, 95% of all Bank investments in power generation over the 2016-18 period have been in renewables.

The “Desert to Power” program, a $10 billion initiative to build a 10 GW solar zone across the Sahel—the largest in the world— would provide electricity for 250 million people.  Together with partners such as the Green Climate Fund and the EU, the Bank has now financed the first project under this Initiative: The Yeleen Rural Electrification Project in Burkina Faso.

Key Bank projects include the co-financing of the 510 MW Ouarzazate Solar Complex in Morocco, one of the largest solar complexes in the world.

Campaigners to One Planet Summit ask for real climate solutions for Africa

National and business leaders, as well as prominent figures of youth and civil society, will come together in Nairobi for the One Planet Summit, under the theme of “Africa’s Pledge”. 350Africa and other climate groups will march from the YMCA to the University of Nairobi to call for real climate solutions for the continent.

The much-publicised event has in fact left climate campaigners concerned that the Summit will be another lost opportunity to advance meaningful climate action on the scale and timeline needed to avoid the worst case scenarios of climate change in Africa. 

Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta will be hosting the 3rd edition of the One Planet Summit, which is convened by French President Emmanuel Macron, with the support of the World Bank and the United Nations.

Officially, the meeting aims to highlight "the unique role of Africa as a global partner facing both challenges and opportunities, especially in the area of innovative solutions for adaptation and resilience" and to promote "the concrete actions needed to accelerate the global transition to a low-carbon economy ".

The World Bank Group is stepping up its climate support for Africa by providing $22.5 billion for Africa for climate adaptation and mitigation for the five years from 2021-2025. This more than doubles the commitment to climate-related projects over the last five years.

The funding is part of the Bank Group’s 2025 Targets to Step Up Climate Action, launched in December 2018 during the UN’s COP24 in Poland. It will help African countries manage the risks of a changing climate while unlocking new investment opportunities. IFC and MIGA, the Group’s private sector arms, will also continue to ambitiously grow their climate activities in Africa.

“People across Africa are already experiencing the growing impacts of climate change. This region is particularly vulnerable to increasing floods, droughts and destructive storms,” said Interim President of the World Bank Group, Kristalina Georgieva. “We have to do more and do it faster, or millions of people could be plunged into poverty. That’s why the World Bank is providing more money to build resilience and help communities cope with the effects of climate change in Africa.”

President Macron launched this initiative in December 2017 to accelerate the implementation of the 2015 Paris Climate agreement, which has seen slow progress, especially in decarbonizing the world economy, helping vulnerable countries and financing the low-carbon transition, particularly in Asia and in Africa.

Landry Ninteretse, Regional Team Leader for 350Africa, said, “Accelerating the global transition towards low carbon emissions means phasing out all fossil fuels projects. Globally, coal plants are being shut down one after another and strong commitments are being made by leaders in the global “North”.

However, Africa remains the only continent where coal seems acceptable, and continues to grow, while it’s the most vulnerable continent to climate change. Ending all coal projects in the short term and committing to not financing any new coal infrastructures is the only meaningful promise we’re expecting from this Summit. Anything short of that would amount to just paying lip service to climate action.”

Clémence Dubois, campaigner at 350 France, said: “French President Macron is convening a summit to advance climate action in and for Africa, while French oil giant Total is still extracting fossil fuels from Western Africa and many large French companies are still involved in fossil fuels extraction and production across the continent. African communities will never be safe from the worst impacts of climate change, as long as fossil fuel operations are rapidly phased out. If Macron is serious about being a climate champion, he should have a chat with French companies still polluting Africa and exploiting its resources. This is the pledge we’d like to see.”

Environmental leaders meet to ramp up solutions for sustainable economies

Over 4,700 heads of state, ministers, business leaders, senior UN officials and civil society representatives are gathering in Nairobi for a meeting of the world’s top body on the environment, where they will take decisions that move global societies to a more sustainable path.
 

The fourth UN Environment Assembly runs from 11-15 March under the theme Innovative Solutions for Environmental Challenges and Sustainable Consumption and Production. 

It is the biggest gathering in the Assembly’s short history, with attendance almost double the last event in December 2017. Prominent world leaders will attend, including the Presidents of France and Kenya, Emmanuel Macron and Uhuru Kenyatta, and CEOs from major corporations.

Bold decisions and outcomes are expected as the delegates negotiate late into the night over five days.  Resolutions are on the table to push harder for sustainable consumption and production patterns, commit to the protection of the marine environment from plastic pollution, reduce food waste, and advance technological innovation that combats climate change, and reduces resource use and biodiversity loss.

The Assembly’s status as the only UN body outside the General Assembly where all member states convene, and its power to bring together all sectors, means that the global environmental agenda is defined here. Decisions have a profound impact on the goals of the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as well as paving the way towards the UN Climate Change Summit 2019 and impacting the overall UN agenda.

Ahead of the meeting, UN Environment’s Acting Executive Director, Joyce Msuya, appealed to nations to step up and start delivering real change.

“Time is running short. We are past pledging and politicking. We are past commitments with little accountability. What’s at stake is life, and society, as the majority of us know it and enjoy it today,” she wrote in a policy letter.

As delegates come to Nairobi for the Assembly, UN Environment is deeply saddened by the news of the Ethiopian Airlines accident. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those affected. We are following developments closely.

A UN Environment background report for the Assembly, which serves as a basis for defining problems and laying out new action areas, makes a strong case for urgent action. The report puts the value of lost ecosystem services between 1995 and 2011 at $4 trillion to $20 trillion; shows how agricultural practices are putting increasing pressure on the environment, costing an estimated $3 trillion per year, and estimates pollution-related costs at $4.6 trillion annually.

“As never before, the time to act is now,” said President of the UN Environment Assembly and Minister of Environment of Estonia, Siim Kiisler. “We know we can build more sustainable, prosperous and inclusive societies with sustainable consumption and production patterns that address our environmental challenges and leave no one behind. But we will need to create the enabling conditions for this to happen. And we will need to do things differently.”

The Assembly will also see new research launched by UN Environment, including the latest edition of the world’s only comprehensive global scan of the environment: Global Environment Outlook 6, which was produced by 252 scientists and experts from over 70 countries. The International Resource Panel’s Global Resources Outlook, meanwhile, takes stock of material extraction, including the future outlook and recommendations on how to use natural resources more sustainably.

“It’s clear that we need to transform the way our economies work, and the way we value the things that we consume,” said Msuya. “The goal is to break the link between growth and increased resource use, and end our throwaway culture.”

The Assembly is not just about the resolutions and science. Side events and exhibits provide the opportunity for attendees to form partnerships and make deals that benefit people and the environment.

The Sustainable Innovation Expo acts as an innovation hub, with over 40 environmental technologies and innovations on display.

The One Planet Summit – co-organized by the governments of France and Kenya, and the World Bank – is also being held around the edges of the Assembly, focusing on Africa’s environmental challenges.

The UN Science-Policy-Business Forum, convened in advance of the UN Environment Assembly, launched initiatives on using big data, machine learning, and green technology startups, to solve major environmental problems.

Reporting science is at the heart of attaining the Sustainable Development Goals

Kofi Adu Domfeh is a multi-award-winning development journalist and a long-standing correspondent for WRENmedia. In this interview, he explains why he is committed to reporting on climate science.

Highlighting key development issues for redress – which is a key element of science reporting – is at the heart of attaining the Sustainable Development Goals. It is therefore imperative for young journalists to work closely with scientists and other interest groups to first understand what they seek to report, said Domfeh. 

Read full interview: 

https://www.wrenmedia.co.uk/blog/reporting-science-is-at-the-heart-of-attaining-the-sustainable-development-goals

Global Landscapes Forum salutes UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030

The United Nations has declared a landmark Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030 to accelerate the restoration of degraded ecosystems.

This is part of a long term effort by the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF), its partners and charter members.

The GLF is a knowledge-based platform and global movement that advocates for the restoration of ecological equilibrium to landscapes under pressure from climate change and unsustainable human activities. The 22 charter members of the GLF are many of the world’s leading development organizations.

Worldwide, more than 2 billion hectares of land are degraded, a footprint larger than South America, according to World Resources Institute (WRI).

The U.N. Decade on Ecosystem Restoration recognizes the vital role forested landscapes play in stabilizing the climate and offers support for 3.2 billion people whose livelihoods are at risk from deforestation caused by resource extraction and agricultural expansion. It provides a timeline upon which to accelerate and pull together multiple U.N. development, environment and climate frameworks already in place.

“This is a tremendous achievement for all the partners who have worked so hard to bring the decade to life,“ said John Colmey, executive producer of GLF. "The GLF brings together millions of people globally to combat the devastating harm that climate change and unsustainable practices are having on the world’s landscapes. This new U.N. decade acknowledges the urgency and scale of the challenges we face.”

Momentum grew for the idea of a decade dedicated to landscape restoration throughout 2018 at international events organized by GLF in Washington, Nairobi and Bonn, Germany, hosted by the World Bank and UN Environment. International scientists, policymakers, economists, activists and Indigenous Peoples discussed landscape degradation, climate change and its consequences, including food insecurity, mass migration, conflict, biodiversity and habitat loss.

"We've only just begun to realize the importance of forests and trees in their contributions to agricultural production through the provision of ecosystem services, not only to large-scale commodity production, but also for the millions of small-scale farmers working in complex multi-functional landscapes that actually produce a significant proportion of the world's food," said Terry Sunderland, associate scientist with the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), who was instrumental in the formation of the GLF.

"However welcome, this initiative will not be without its challenges," he said. "Broader restoration efforts will require a more integrated approach to land management at the landscape scale and, while the conceptual frameworks for implementation have been in place for some time, we're still falling short in breaking down disciplinary silos."

The initial concept for the U.N. decade emerged from the Bonn Challenge to restore 150 million hectares of land by 2020, and 350 million hectares by 2030, which was launched in 2011 by the government of Germany and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and later endorsed and extended by the New York Declaration on Forests at the 2014 U.N. Climate Summit. In its infancy, the concept of the U.N. Decade on Ecosystem Restoration was supported by El Salvador, UN Environment, IUCN and GLF.

"Restoration of 350 million hectares of degraded land between now and 2030 could generate $9 trillion in ecosystem services and take an additional 13-26 gigatons of greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere," said UN Environment and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in a statement.

The decade, launched by UN Environment and FAO, weaves together a range of international agreements – including the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals, U.N. Convention on Biodiversity Aichi Targets,  U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, U.N. Paris Agreement on climate change, U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification, Ramsar Convention on wetlands and the U.N. Strategic Plan on Forests 2017-2030.

The urgency of tackling climate-related security risk in Africa

The African Union Peace and Security Council has been commended for dedicating its 828^th session to climate change.

During an open session on the theme: “Climate Change Funding in line with the Africa Adaptation Initiative (AAI) to Contribute towards Peace and Security”, the Council noted the inextricable linkages between climate change and peace and security, and emphasized the need for collective and holistic approaches towards building resilience and mitigating the adverse effects of climate.

Council underscored the importance of supporting access to cleaner and more efficient, as well as more sustainable sources of energy, sustainable land use practices and other activities that contribute towards building community resilience and thus mitigating competition for access to scarce resources.

The Council also underscored the importance of comprehensive, climate related security risk information, including credible data and analyses with a view to enabling Member States to predict with more precision the frequency of climate change related risks, including natural disasters, and to enhance the resilience of the communities.

African civil society has acknowledged “climate-induced human insecurity is increasing in Africa”.

The move by the Council is therefore welcoming to take the issue to another level.

“As a continent severely impacted by climate change, African should not wait until the 
narrative on climate change, peace and conflict and displacement is defined from elsewhere. This is the move on the right direction,” said Mithika Mwenda, Executive Director of the PanAfrican Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA).

The 24^th UN climate change talks (COP24), held at Katowice, Poland, made further progress on the rulebook to operationalize the Paris Agreement.

To examine how the Katowice Climate Package could respond to climate-induced human insecurity, PACJA, together with the African Union Commission (AUC), the African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC) of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and Oxfam convened a meeting on the margins of the 32^nd Summit of the African Union.  

Participants in the two-day consultations made recommendations that sought to advance the discourse on climate change and migration:

“Taking note of the sparse efforts in addressing the discourse on climate change and migration, African leaders should establish an African discourse on the climate security issue;

There is need for enhanced understanding of the link between climate change, natural disasters, conflicts, displacements, migration, peace and security through strengthening existing institutions, allocation of resources and expanding their mandate;

There is need to strengthen the coherence between climate change, disaster risk reduction and development actions at all levels for durable solutions to forced displacements”.

Researchers at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) have also released a new essay that gives impetus for the African Union (AU) to refocus on climate-related security risks and build a broad support to appoint a dedicated AU Special Envoy for Climate Change and Security.

“The idea of the Special Envoy is apt and an opportunity to pre-empt migration and forced displacement,” says Dr. Florian Krampe. “Moreover, this will provide an opportunity to ‘climate-proof’ the AU’s peace and security architecture”.

The AU Peace and Security Council has reiterated its request for the AU Commission to expedite the finalization of the outcomes of the study on the nexus between climate change and peace and security in the continent.

Emphasis was made on the need for the AU to continue mobilizing a united African front at the global level to mitigate the effects of climate change at both, regional and continental levels.

The Council also reiterated the importance of Member States, Regional Economic Communities and Regional Mechanisms for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution (RECs/RMs) and AU partners to actively pursue integrated approaches to boost climate change resilience and to pay particular attention to prevention and further strengthening the humanitarian-development nexus.

“We will continue to work with AU, ECA and other partners to ensure we provide the necessary support to the Council so as to build evidence on the nexus between climate change, conflict, migration, peace and security. We also urge African countries and RECs, and particularly those experiencing instability, to dig deeper into the root causes of conflict," said Mithika.

A session at the level of Heads of State and Government will be organized which will be solely dedicated to climate change.

By Kofi Adu Domfeh

Climate-smart yam cropping system comes to the rescue of farmers

Ghanaian yam farmers are in constant search for soil fertility and staking for sustainable high yield production.

To help farmers overcome this challenge, research scientists are making progress in exploring solutions by introducing farmers to the Pigeon Pea–Yam Cropping System for improved yam productivity.

The new planting system, implemented by the Crops Research Institute (CRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and partners, has been identified as sustainable for yam production in the face of depleting soils and climate change.

“What we have to do is to ensure that farmers are able to use continuously cropped lands for yam, instead of searching for virgin lands which are non-existent,” said Dr. Stella Ennin, Director of CRI-CSIR.

Under the technology, the pigeon pea is used as allays with the yams planted in-between the ridges. The system also involves placing the pigeon pea at the border zone which are cut and used at stakes – the direct access to stakes saves the farmers from the labour, transportation and cost of buying stakes.

At the end of the three-year project in 2020, the researchers are hoping to come out with a technology that will be appreciated by farmers.  Already, the results of field trials look good.

Farmers in yam producing areas like Atebubu-Amantim, Ejura, Techiman and Kintampo in the Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions have been involved in the new cropping system at an on-station trial field at Aframso in the Ejura-Sekyeredumase District of the Ashanti region.

Most of the farmlands are far from the communities as they shift cultivation in search of fertile lands.

Research scientist on the project, Eric Owusu Danquah, explains the technology addresses staking which is crucial in yam production. The pigeon pea conserves moisture and fixes atmospheric nitrogen. The leaves or biomass, which are cut and spread before land preparation, also add to the soil carbon and nutrient stock in sustaining soil fertility.

During an evaluation exercise on trial fields, the farmers chose the field planted with pigeon pea and the recommended 50percent fertilizer application. This option had better yield with low disease rate on the produce.

“We could see that the yams in the alley sprouted better than where we did not have the pigeon pea. It was more vigorous and grew faster right from the beginning. Phosphorous was made available to the soil and to the plant. We also realized that it was able to preserve moisture which was an advantage,” said Dr. Ennin.

The Pigeon Pea Yam Cropping System has been identified as viable in improved yam productivity.

The research will be expanded from Kumasi and Ejura to other yam producing areas, while production guides are prepared to spread information on the production technique.

Digitalising agriculture: Bridging the gender gap

Livestock farmers in rural Ghana are receiving veterinary services delivered to their door at the tap of a finger when they register with Cowtribe’s app.

In the pastoral northern regions of Ghana, as in many African countries, women bear the responsibility for providing and caring for the household. 

As livestock farming is the primary source of income, this includes rearing farm goats, sheep, and poultry. However, the high prevalence of disease often leads to the death of their animals. 

To help farmers fight livestock disease, Cowtribe – a winner of CTA’s 2018 Pitch Agrihack – has developed a digital on-demand and subscription-based service, which delivers livestock vaccines to rural farmers.

Read full story...

 

https://spore.cta.int/en/dossiers/article/ghana-digital-vaccine-delivery-service-sid0f8cd8489-ff6d-4c69-aebd-d779263b5715 

Ghana commended for renewable energy commitments

The Ghanaian government has been commended for the commitment to promote renewable energy in the country’s power generation mix.

In his 2019 State of the Nation Address, President Akufo-Addo announced that the seat of government, the Jubilee House, will from August 2019 be powered by solar energy.

This initiative would serve as an example for other public institutions.

“Government is committed to achieving an electricity generation mix that ensures diversity and security of energy supply. For this reason, we will continue to promote the deployment of renewable energy in line with our policy target of 10% renewables in the energy mix from the current 1%,” said the President.

Civil society group, Abibiman Foundation, has welcomed the President’s pronouncement, considering the efforts made by the government to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, specifically SDG 7 – Affordable and Clean Energy, and SDG 13 – Climate Action.

“When honoured, it will demonstrate the President’s commitment to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, especially as he is the Co-Chair to the UN Secretary General’s Sustainable Development Goals Advocates,” said Kenneth Nana Amoateng, Executive Director of the Foundation.

In 2016, Ghana ratified the Paris Climate Change Agreement to pave way for the implementation of its Nationally Determined Contributions (GH-NDCs).

The GH-NDCs seeks to develop a policy framework that integrates adaptation, mitigation and other climate related policies within broader development policies and planning in order to safeguard developmental gains from the impacts of climate change and build a climate resilient economy.

Ghana’s solar energy programmes include the attainment of utility-scale solar electricity from about 22.5 megawatts to 250 megawatts by 2030.

In addition, 200,000 solar systems for households, commercial and government facilities in urban and selected non-electrified rural communities will be installed and 55 mini-grid electrification systems with an average capacity of 100 kilowatts established.

Abibiman Foundation has urged the government to step up commitments to increase the proportion of renewable energy by 10% in the total national energy mix by the 2030 deadline.

“Ensuring the efficient production and use of renewable energy in Ghana is paramount to the country’s development. Even though we commend the government for its effort in working towards the attainment of universal access to energy by 2020, we believe a lot more could be done through improved access to various renewable energy technologies,” said Kenneth.

Most parts of Ghana enjoy high levels of solar irradiation all year round due to the abundance of sunshine. Yet solar energy only contributes 1% to the energy mix, as opposed to 59% from fossil fuels and 40% from hydro.

The Energy Ministry initiated the Solar Rooftop Programme to promote the use of solar power for government and public buildings to reduce expenditure on utilities.

"The Ministry is leading by example with the installation of a 65-kilowatt solar rooftop system at its premises," President Akufo-Addo said.

Civil Society expects a comprehensive plan to roll out the programme to include ministries, department and agencies as well as metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies.

“We want to pledge our support to the government and its efforts to drive and improve the use of renewable energy in the country. Additionally, we will complement government’s efforts by creating awareness to drive adoption, improve advocacy and the deployment of various renewable energy technologies across Ghana,” said a statement from Abibiman Foundation.

By Kofi Adu Domfeh