Africa Pavilion at COP 21

During this session panelists discussed various readiness initiatives that are in place to allow African countries to access climate finance. Panelists discussed climate finance from both the user and provider perspectives with an emphasis on preparing for accreditation to climate financing mechanisms. Organized by AfDB, the panel included representatives of multilateral development banks, bilateral partners and the climate finance funds themselves.

Anthony Nyong, Manager, Compliance and Safeguards Division, AfDB, moderated the session. He began by asking “how ready are African nations to access climate finance?” He noted the high fiduciary standards required for countries to access the Green Climate Fund (GCF) as well as the environmental and social safeguards that must be in place. He said the GCF is the fund that “everyone is looking up to,” and it is important that all countries have a feeling they can participate.

David Craig, Senior Advisor, GCF, described the GCF’s readiness program that helps establish the institutional arrangements needed to coordinate and mainstream climate finance activities. The GCF has received about US$10 billion in pledges, he said, and it has already signed up US$6 billion in contribution agreements. He noted the GCF board has already approved a first round of eight projects at a cost of approximately $168 million, but that the aim is to contribute up to US$2 billion per year. The question, he said, is how to reach that goal. He underscored that currently just 10% of all climate finance globally goes to adaptation but that the GCF has set a target of providing 50% of funds for adaptation.

Axel Olearius, Director, Climate Policy Support Programme, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), discussed climate finance from the bilateral angle and underscored the challenge of developing bankable projects and the complexity of the finance landscape. GIZ primarily works bilaterally, he said, and its core task is capacity building for climate finance readiness in the areas of: strategic planning and policy development; strengthening institutions and financial governance; effective and transparent spending and implementation; and promoting private sector engagement.

Kurt Lonsway, Manager, Environment and Climate Change, AfDB, highlighted the Africa Climate Change Fund (ACCF) established with a grant of US$4.75 million from Germany. The fund was extremely popular, he said, with more than 350 proposals submitted in order to advance climate finance readiness. This high level of interest demonstrated by the number of proposals underscores the demand for climate finance readiness support, he said.

Rose Mukankomeje, Director General, Rwanda Environment Management Authority, framed her remarks by noting, “you don’t get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate.” She said readiness is about direct access to funds for countries affected by climate change but there is a paradox: “we can’t access climate finance if we aren’t ready, but how can we be ready if we can’t access finance?” She said accreditation requires careful planning that includes all stakeholders.

Phyllis Ombonyo, Director of Business Development, NETFUND, Kenya, discussed the importance of national climate change legislation such as Kenya’s plan to create both a directorate and a climate change council to be chaired by the president. She said the directorate will identify priorities and mobilize resources. She described Kenya’s path to accessing the ACCF.

During the discussion, panelists responded to questions on: resistance to lending to the private sector; the balance between funding for adaptation and mitigation; civil society participation in the implementation of funds; and the prescriptive nature of GCF readiness support. David Craig said the GCF has an “excellent governing instrument” that is built on country ownership and has no limits on the type of institutions that can receive finance. Kurt Lonsway said AfDB provides direct access and is a wholly African institution but that access to all types of finance will come with some criteria. Rose Mukankomeje said there have been many activities aimed at building capacity for accreditation but that it is important to consider the next steps after accreditation as well. Phyllis Ombonyo said readiness activities include monitoring and reporting and that the definition of such activities is evolving because activities that are eligible for climate finance can change over time. Anthony Nyong closed by saying there is no reason any African institution cannot access climate finance and that the AfDB stands ready to help.

This side event showcased Ethiopia’s climate resilient initiatives and was moderated by Mulugeta Mengist Ayalew, Associate Advisor, Office of the Prime Minister, Ethiopia.

Ghrmawit Haile, Director, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ethiopia, presented on mainstreaming Ethiopia’s Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) II, the country’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) and the CRGE strategy. She highlighted Ethiopia’s goals of becoming a middle income country by 2025, achieving economic growth, structural transformation, social progress and eradicating poverty. She said Ethiopia is mainstreaming the CRGE strategy into all national plans and integrating climate change considerations into the nearly completed GTP II that will be implemented between 2016-2020. She expects regional governments in Ethiopia to embark on the same mainstreaming process. She said Ethiopia’s INDC is one of the most ambitious in the world, is transparent and equitable and has been under implementation since 2010. She noted Ethiopia has a strong enabling environment due to high level political commitment and awareness as well as strong partnerships with various actors. She noted the mainstreaming process has been challenging and that implementation of the CRGE requires increased means of implementation especially finance.

Belaynesh Birru, Director, Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Electricity, Ethiopia, presented on sustainable energy for development in Ethiopia and said energy is a critical enabler and input into the country’s growth and transformation objectives. She outlined that they are revising the existing energy policy to give priority to renewable energy and that despite the country’s vast energy resources it currently only utilizes 5% of its hydropower potential and less than 1% of its solar, wind and geothermal potential. She said they have already distributed 8.75 million cook stoves and plan to distribute a further 11.45 million. She outlined that there is a strong commitment by the government to use domestic resources to realize the CRGE strategy.

Shewangizaw Kifle, Chief Officer, Infrastructure Asset Management Department, Ethiopian Railway Corporation, outlined that transport is one of the pillars of the GTP II and the CRGE strategy. He said that more than 2,000 kilometers of railway is either completed or under construction and the second phase of the plan is to construct a further 2,300 kilometers. He said this additional erection needs financing via government contributions, loans or international climate finance. Some of the benefits of this rail system, he said, are the creation of 30,000 jobs and the reduction of 9 billion tons of CO2 equivalent.

Sertse Sebuh, CRGE Unit Coordinator, Ministry of Agriculture, Ethiopia, said the impact of climate change on Ethiopia’s agriculture is big and that agriculture accounts for 50% of the country’s emissions. He noted that when Ethiopia targets zero emissions it must also target zero poverty. The CRGE strategy is being mainstreamed into the agricultural sector, he said, and there is a cornucopia of environmental, social and economic returns due to the implementation of sustainable land management. He outlined that the strategy needs to be mainstreamed vertically and horizontally and to reach the community level.

Tesfaye Woldeyes Gammo, Project Manager, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ethiopia, outlined a community adaptation project that has reached 5,000 households in nine communities in Ethiopia and is funded by the Least Developed Counties Fund, the Global Environment Facility and UN Development Programme. He noted that the objective of the project is to support local communities and lower levels of government to implement climate change adaptation plans. He concluded saying community engagement is highly important and that the project should be scaled up.

Discussions ensued on, inter alia: whether the mainstreaming approach could miss some cross sectoral opportunities; how fossil fuel subsidy reform makes the project on electrification more profitable; whether the new African Renewable Energy Initiative could help with access to finance for hydropower projects; the cost effectiveness of drip irrigation systems; and the intergenerational aspects of the plans.

Kare Chawicha Debessa, State Minister of Environment and Forestry, Ethiopia, speaking from the audience, said that Ethiopia is doing its best to address its “homemade problems” and become an example for the rest of the world and that scaling up projects and working in partnerships is vital to achieve this.

The Africa Pavilion @ COP 21 Bulletin © <enb@iisd.org> is a special publication of the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). This issue has been written by Dina Hestad and Brett Wertz. The Digital Editor is Liz Rubin. The Editor is Tomilola Akanle Eni-ibukun, Ph.D. <tomilola@iisd.org>. The Director of IISD Reporting Services is Langston James “Kimo” Goree VI <kimo@iisd.org>. Funding for coverage of the Africa Pavilion at COP 21 has been provided by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). The opinions expressed in the Bulletin are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of IISD and funders. Excerpts from the Bulletin may be used in non-commercial publications only with appropriate academic citation. For permission to use this material in commercial publications, contact the Director of IISD Reporting Services at <kimo@iisd.org>. Electronic versions of issues of the Africa Pavilion @ COP 21 Bulletin can be found on the IISD Reporting Services website at http://enb.iisd.org/climate/cop21/cdafrica-ap/. The IISD team at the Africa Pavilion at COP 21 can be contacted by e-mail at <brett@iisd.org>.