The 2023 Africa Climate Summit will be held in Kenya this week. So far, African countries have made progress in implementing various climate change initiatives and partnerships to fulfill their Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) commitments. Here are some of these initiatives:
- The Kenyan government has launched a robust national tree-planting initiative with a goal of planting 1.5 billion trees by 2032 to reduce greenhouse emissions and halt deforestation.??
- Uganda has also developed and launched an interactive monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) tool for tracking and reporting climate actions across various sectors. This tool, which is the first of its kind in Africa, covers both adaptation and mitigation measures, closely monitoring the progress of targets outlined in the country’s updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).??
- Similarly, Nigeria has recently sought partnerships to facilitate capacity building for stakeholders in different sectors to track the progress of NDC performance.?
- Somalia has formed partnerships with academic institutions to implement its National Adaptation Plan (NAP) and bridge the technical and institutional capacity gap. The Somalian government hopes to tap into the expertise of the universities and outsource the development of essential training and outreach. The universities will be responsible for designing a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework by providing input on data availability and monitoring methodologies, as well as its implementation.
While some progress has been made, there are still significant concerns that need to be addressed to achieve the climate goals set for 2030. Here are some of the key issues that will need to be tackled in Nairobi:?
- Climate finance for mitigation and adaptation: Funding remains the biggest obstacle to African countries operationalizing their intended NDCs. All African countries need about $2.8 trillion to implement their NDCs. Out of this, 66 percent is needed for mitigation efforts and the remaining 24 percent for adaptation. According to a report by the Climate Policy Initiative, the current annual climate finance flows amount to $30 billion. However, when compared to the annual financing needs of $277 billion for NDCs implementation, there is a funding gap of $247 billion per year. Closing this huge financing gap is crucial, which is why African leaders must use the climate summit to explore partnerships and opportunities that can lead to a transformative shift in climate finance for the region.??
- Carbon trading: The African Carbon Markets Initiative was launched at COP27 to facilitate and enhance Africa's engagement in voluntary carbon markets. The Initiative is expected to produce 300 million carbon credits annually. Countries like Kenya, Gabon, Malawi, Mozambique, Togo, Nigeria, Burundi, and Rwanda have already activated this initiative with many more expected to join. Full participation in the initiative will unlock $6 billion in revenue and create 30 million jobs by 2030.??
- Debt swaps for climate and nature: Debt distress across Sub-Saharan countries is a major barrier to allocating national funds towards climate finance. To this end, African countries have shown increased interest in debt-for-nature swaps. On August 15, Gabon closed a deal with the Bank of America, the US International Development Finance Corporation (USDFC), and The Nature Conservancy (TNC), to refinance $500 million in national debt toward marine conservation efforts in the country. Such innovative financial arrangements hold the potential to contribute to tackling the pressing challenges associated with climate change and the loss of biodiversity.?
- Energy transition: Africa’s high potential to hone renewable energy makes the development of the sector a crucial tool for advancing energy transition plans. IRENA reports that between 2000 and 2020, Africa received only 2% ($60 billion) of the 2.8 trillion invested in renewable energy globally. The report showed that 75% of the investments made between 2010 and 2020 went to just four countries: South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, and Kenya. While the Northern Africa region benefits from greater private sector investment than the rest of the continent, investments in Sub-Saharan Africa remain small and have faced a downward trend from USD 5.3 billion in 2019 to less than USD 3.6 billion in 2022. To address this issue, the summit will host discussions on de-risking tools, mobilizing capital for electricity transmission infrastructure, policy reform and coherence, and proven financial models that facilitate scaling renewable energy.??
