Africa is the continent most affected by climate change, mainly due to heavy industrial pollution despite being a low producer of it. Its calls for "compensation" are rarely heard, but Africans do not lose hope. This is evidenced by a new sign of hope from representatives of African civil society.
African civil society has revealed five absolute priorities to combat climate change: adaptation, losses and damages, food and land use systems, as well as forest protection and restoration. The announcement was made by Secou Sarr, the executive secretary of the NGO ENDA-Tiers Monde, representing a collective of African non-governmental organizations during a side event held on Tuesday, December 5, at the United Nations Climate Conference (COP 28) in Dubai. These NGOs have come together under a common platform launched during COP28: the "African Development Bank-Civil Society Coalition on Climate and Energy." By forming this coalition, African civil society aims to have a greater impact on the discussions of COP28 in Dubai.
Paradoxically, Africa is the continent that suffers the most from the effects of climate change but receives the least corresponding funding. The continent should be able to benefit from its natural resources, argued Akinwumi Adesina, the president of the African Development Bank, before the members of the Coalition. Mr. Adesina proposed, "African economies should not be assessed based on their GDP; we should assess Africa's wealth based on its natural capital." He emphasized that the continent's immense mineral, forest, and renewable energy resources should weigh in the balance.
The Congo Basin, the world's largest carbon reservoir, is not taken into account in the GDP evaluation of the countries in the region, lamented the president of the Bank. The Coalition supports the call of African leaders to channel Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) for climate financing to Africa, particularly through the African Development Bank. It urges the global community, governments, and development partners to "implement best practices, innovations, and technologies inclusively, involving farmers, local communities, especially women and youth, in an approach that combines scientific and traditional knowledge without harming biodiversity or compromising societal resilience."
The Coalition calls on parties to ensure that "adaptation and resilience-building are at the heart of vulnerable African economies to climate change."
At the opening of discussions with civil society, Beth Dunford, Vice President of the Bank responsible for Agriculture and Human and Social Development, emphasized that the coalition was "very important" for Africa. She mentioned that the Bank allocates 64% of its funding to climate adaptation in Africa and has just launched a Climate Action Window to provide specific resources and technical assistance to the continent's least developed countries. At least $42 billion should be mobilized for this new window, linked to the African Development Fund, the concessional window of the Bank Group.
Augustine Njamnshi, the president of the Coalition, praised the nexus of development financial institutions, civil society, and the private sector in the fight against climate change in Africa. "Doubling adaptation funding will not be enough for the continent because governments have already spent a lot of money," he said, urging civil society and the private sector, especially banks, to work together in the interest of the continent.
Echoing his remarks, Pauline Nantongo Kalunda, Executive Director of the Ecotrust Fund for Environmental Conservation in Uganda, gave an example of this win-win partnership. The combined action of civil society and the private sector, she said, enabled 15,000 small farmers to develop tree planting for carbon storage. However, she called for overcoming obstacles so that communities can access climate financing. "It has been said that the private sector has $200 billion for climate, but it never reaches the ground because there are many barriers. We need to identify them, overcome them to facilitate access."
Mithika Mwenda, President of the Pan-African Alliance for Climate Justice—a powerful network of over 1,000 African organizations working on climate issues—emphasized the catalytic role of civil society while praising the partnership with the Bank that has enabled "significant commitments."
"Climate change is a breeding ground for terrorism," declared the Burkinabe Minister of the Environment, Roger Baro, highlighting that despite security and humanitarian challenges, his country demonstrates resilience. The government, the private sector, and civil society form "a tandem" in the fight against climate change in this Sahelian country, the minister said, citing coordination frameworks set up by the government to work with these different entities. "We have annual reforestation campaigns, and the private sector (banks, insurance, among others) reforests and maintains plants," the minister said. He also emphasized that the government is working with the private sector on public-private partnerships to build roads and dams, as well as to catalyze international green financing.
Karen Wanjiru Kimani, the youngest environmental activist in Africa, called for not neglecting the action of young people on the environment. She explained how schoolchildren form clubs to plant trees to combat drought. She urged the government and the private sector to work together for the climate.
Participants paid tribute to Yacouba Sawadogo, a Burkinabe farmer who dedicated his life to fighting desertification, receiving the "Right Livelihood Award," the "alternative Nobel Prize."
