Africa’s Adaptation Gap 2: bridging the gap – mobilising sources
Climate change represents a clear and present danger to the development prospects of Africa. African countries are going to have to adapt to protect their peoples from the harsh impacts of climate change and to ensure that they are not derailed from their current development pathways. Developed country Parties to the Climate Convention committed to “assist the developing country Parties that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change in meeting costs of adaptation to those adverse effects.” (UNFCCC Articles 4.3 and 4.4) This report (2015 AAGr2) is directed towards exploring the extent to which African countries can contribute to closing the adaptation gap, in order to better understand the gap in the resources that will be needed and, thereby, the likely extent to which international climate finance must be urgently raised, leveraged and deployed in service of Africa’s pressing adaptation needs. Given the increasing severity of the adaptation challenge posed by climate change to Africa, no stone should be left unturned in looking for solutions for closing the adaptation gap, for two major reasons: firstly, the case for international solutions is even stronger if national and regional options are considered and evaluated; secondly, it is in the interest of African nations and their stakeholders at all levels to hedge against the possibility that the funding provided through the Green Climate Fund and other channels is insufficient or ineffective.