23 September 2014: On the eve of the UN Climate Summit, the African Development Bank (AfDB) participated in high-level meetings on financing opportunities for a climate-smart Africa, including the Clim-Dev Africa Special Fund (CDSF) and the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) Initiative.

The Clim-Dev Africa programme convened a high-level discussion, titled ‘Moving against the tide: Africa rising to seize climate change opportunities in water, food and energy security,’ chaired by Carlos Lopez, Executive Secretary, UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). The CDSF is a joint initiative of AfDB, the African Union Commission (AUC) and UNECA. The objective of the CDSF is to strengthen the institutional capacities of national and sub-regional bodies to formulate and implement effective climate-sensitive policies.

African country representatives, while recognizing global efforts to improve access to climate finance in Africa, acknowldeged that current financial flows remain insufficient to meet Africa’s needs and called for increased access to climate finance. They also: advocated that a legally-binding climate agreement be agreed at the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 21) to the UNFCCC in Paris, France, in 2015; discussed the potential of a nexus approach to ensure sustainable water, food and energy security; and explored how the CDSF can help build climate resilience in Africa. The EU, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and the Nordic Development Fund have contributed over €28 million the CDSF.

Alex Rugamba, Energy, Environment and Climate Change Department, AfDB, said climate change is not just a threat, but it also provides an opportunity for Africa to “sustainably grow cleaner and greener,” and added that many African countries have already developed “green economic development strategies.”

The UN-led SE4ALL initiative also held a series of high-level discussions on its implementation, with partners, including EU and US Power Africa, announcing commitments to catalyze investments to halve the global energy poverty, including one that aims to raise over US$120 billion. Rugamba highlighted progress made by African countries toward achieving SE4ALL objectives. [AfDB Press Release] [IISD RS Coverage of the UN Climate Summit] [Clim-Dev Africa Website] [CDSF Website]