African youths want industrialised nations to more than double adaptation finance in Africa

Around 150 young African leaders called on developed countries earlier this month to go beyond the promise they made in Glasgow of doubling adaptation finance to developing nations.

During the COP26 in Glasgow, developed nations were urged to at least double the funding provided to developing countries for adaptation by 2025, compared to a 2019 baseline.

But the African youths meeting in Yaoundé, Cameroon for the inaugural Forum on Adaptation Finance in Africa said just doubling the amount of money meant for adaptation would fall far too short of the continent’s needs.

“We need more than double adaptation finance” was the chorus during the November 16-18 forum that was organised by the Pan African Justice Alliance (PACJA) and the African Coalition for Sustainable Energy and Access (ACSEA) in partnership with the Africa Adaptation Initiative (AAI).

While the share of adaptation finance grew over recent years, reaching 41 per cent of climate finance mobilised by developed countries in 2020, the scale of adaptation finance available falls drastically short of what is required to address the needs of vulnerable states.

International adaptation finance to developing countries reached a total of $28.6 billion in 2020, the latest UN Environment Programme Adaptation Finance Gap report noted. However, actual adaptation needs are currently five to 10 times higher than adaptation finance flows.

This gap is projected to worsen as annual adaptation costs are estimated to reach $160-340 billion by 2030 and $315-565 billion by 2050. Further, there is evidence that adaptation finance figures are over reported and that reported ‘adaptation’ projects do not always deliver adaptation benefits.

And the situation is even dire for Africa. According to Njamshi Augustine, executive-director of ACSEA, the continent needs $52.7 billion annually until 2030. It received only $11.4 billion in 2019 and 2020.

And the gap is expected to widen even further, with the Brookings Institute estimating that a gap of $453 billion will accumulate over the decade. Still, the realities of climate change continue to stare the continent in the face, from El Ninos, droughts and floods.

Fungai Ngorima, a young climate activist from Zimbabwe, complained that the country’s agriculture was suffering as rainfall became erratic. “To deal with the problem of rainfall, we have introduced a system called ‘Nfumudza,’ which could translate to ‘minimum disturbance’”. 

“Basically, instead of tilling the whole land which will allow whatever rainfall to just penetrate the soil, the system involves digging holes, maturing the holes so that even if little rain falls, those basins would be able to capture more moisture and help sustain our crops,” she told Down To Earth (DTE).

In Kenya, activist Shampi Anna told DTE that the country had already witnessed six failed rainy seasons, leading to the deaths of cattle and a dwindling crop yield. And as pastoralists in the dryer north migrate south in search of pasture, they go into conflict with farming communities.

“If we have drought, it’s extreme, if we have rain, it’s also on the extreme side. On the flooding side, our houses, most of them are temporary. So they end up being swept,” she said.

In Ethiopia, Yabtsega Getachew told DTE that dependency on firewood has meant depleting available forest and cooking with firewood also means people face many health challenges, including contracting lung diseases.

Her organisation has been working with communities to provide clean sources of energy, particularly electric cooking stoves and how to use biomass to produce biogas.

And in Cameroon, Kari Jackson, the executive-director of the NGO Sustainable Run for Development, has embarked on a project to remove the water-guzzling eucalyptus trees and replace them with “more ecologically friendly species”.

He said the ‘heavy-drinkers’ had led to a drying up of water catchments, and that his NGO is working to restore them.

All these adaptation initiatives across the continent need to be scaled up, said the young people meeting in Yaounde.

“… we, African youths call on industrialized countries and other big polluters to roll out a blueprint at COP28 to increase annual adaptation finance flows to Africa by more than double by 2025, and move from pledging to start keeping their promises,” read what the young leaders termed ‘The Yaoundé Call on More than Doubling Adaptation Finance for a Resilient Africa’.

The young leaders urged the industrialised nations to increase the share of adaptation finance in the overall climate finance portfolio and make sure that it is commensurate with the adaptation needs and costs of African countries. They pointed out that even if adaptation finance was doubled to $40 billion, it wouldn’t still meet the assessed needs.

Additionally, they emphasised the necessity of improving grants-based and predictable adaptation finance delivery and access by streamlining and simplifying the requirements and processes of bilateral and multilateral donors as well as by bolstering the capabilities and preparedness of African institutions and stakeholders, particularly frontline communities and youth- and women-led initiatives.

They also want improvements on the effectiveness and efficiency of adaptation finance by promoting participatory and inclusive planning and decision-making processes and by ensuring transparency, accountability and learning in the implementation and evaluation of adaptation projects and programmes.

Additionally, it is necessary to encourage the creation and application of fresh and innovative funding sources and instruments, as well as to leverage partnerships and investments from the private sector, in order to promote innovation and the scaling up of adaptation finance.

In order to speed up adaptation action worldwide, the youths ultimately hope to see a strong, ambitious and solutions-focused outcome on the Global Goal on Adaptation at COP28 in Dubai.