October 2018: The true costs of adaptation in Africa are expected to be much higher than originally projected and will require creative financing and significant private sector engagement, according to a report published by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), which calls for mainstreaming, scaling up and accelerating adaptation support across the continent.

The report titled, ‘Climate Change Adaptation in Africa: UNDP Synthesis of Experiences and Recommendations,’ provides an overview of successful UNDP-supported adaptation projects in sub-Saharan Africa from 2000 to 2015, and new adaptation initiatives that build on lessons learned. The report argues that achieving SDG 13 (climate action) is essential for achieving all the other SDGs, particularly SDG 1 (no poverty) and SDG 10 (reduced inequalities). It underscores that climate change-induced droughts, floods, changing rainfall patterns and conflict threaten to reverse advances made to reduce hunger and achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change and the SDGs.

Achieving SDG 13 (climate action) is essential for achieving all the other SDGs.

The report highlights successes that address the impacts of climate change at the farmer, community and national levels, including, for example, improved food security in Benin, Mali, Niger and Sudan, where UNDP-supported projects were implemented. Those projects provided farmers with climate-resilient seeds and farming techniques to improve productivity, and helped protect their crops against climate change. UNDP projects detailed in the report also helped: national governments improve climate information and early warning systems; communities build new protections from natural disasters; and empower women to be more effective agents of climate actions.

To ensure long-term sustainability, new projects, according to the report, will need to enhance adaptive capacity, increase access to markets, mainstream policy, support evidence-based decision making and ensure technical support to communities. The report also outlines the need for:

• building up a knowledge bank of the costs of adaptation, the transferability of experience and factors necessary for successful adaptation;
• a private sector transformation to fund adaptation initiatives and protect economic sectors from the impacts of climate change;
• policy mainstreaming to embed adaptation considerations into policy and institutional frameworks; and
• setting up pilot projects and monitoring frameworks.

UNDP has 216 active projects related to adaptation in 45 countries, worth US$828 million in funding, which is being provided by the Adaptation Fund (AF), the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF). [Publication: Climate Change Adaptation in Africa: UNDP Synthesis of Experiences and Recommendations] [Executive Summary] [Publication Landing Page]