AfDB global climate deal could enhance Africa's progress

The African Development Bank (AfDB) said on Wednesday the global climate deal that will push down greenhouse gas emissions could transform Africa's progress.

According to a new paper from the AfDB, climate change poses a severe threat to Africa, but it also offers a huge opportunity.

"The current climate financing architecture is not providing the finance Africa needs. Much more needs to be done to increase Africa's access to climate finance," AfDB president Akinwumi Adesina said in the paper published by the Bank on Wednesday.

The UN talks will start in Paris, France on Monday and run until Dec. 11, with 138 heads of state expected to attend.

The international community is expected to finalize a new global climate agreement and decide how to finance it, at the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21).

"Climate change is the greatest challenge of our time in development. COP21 presents a unique opportunity to meet that challenge. The voice of Africa is crucial to ensure the success of COP21. And the voice of Africa will be heard," Adesina said.

The paper, Africa's Climate Opportunity: Adapting and Thriving, explains how the COP21 climate talks in Paris can help Africa deal with the threat and seize the opportunity.

The continent is particularly vulnerable to climate change, yet it produces only 4 percent of the world's greenhouse gases. Countries that caused global warming have a moral responsibility to help Africa adapt to its effects.

But the new AfDB paper argues that Africa can do much more than adapt, noting that adapting to climate change while minimizing emissions can help drive the economic transformation that Africa needs.

Climate-resilient, low-carbon development can boost growth, create jobs and lift people out of poverty. It can also bridge Africa's crippling energy deficit: 620 million Africans lack access to modern energy.

To take advantage of this opportunity, Africa needs investment. The paper argues that COP21 must deliver the finance that will unlock Africa's potential.

Rich countries have pledged to give poor nations 100 billion U.S. dollars a year by 2020 to help them reduce emissions and adapt to climate change. They are currently giving them just over half that amount.

"To meet the 100 billion dollars per annum target by 2020, we must improve the predictability and mobilization of finance," Adesina said.

Developing countries also want "loss and damage" funds, for example, to help repair the damage caused by climate change-related events, such as hurricanes.

In the paper, the AfDB spells out how it is investing its own resources and mobilizing new sources of finance. Adesina recently announced that the Bank would nearly triple its annual climate financing to reach 5 billion dollars a year by 2020. AfDB's climate spending will increase to 40 percent of its total new investments by 2020.