Marrakesh, Morocco, 08 October. 2023  – At the invitation of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance, African Civil Society Organizations held a roundtable discussion on adaptation finance. The event occurred as a pre-event of the Annual World Bank/ IMF on 7-8 October 2023 in Marrakech, Morocco. At the end of the deliberations, participants issued the following statement. The statement is intended for delegates attending the IMF/ World Bank annual meeting from 9th to 15th October. The theme of the meeting is Global Action, Global Impact.  

Background

This year, the World Bank/ IMF annual meeting is happening on a continent whose optimism on commitments by the global communities to address the climate crisis is quickly fading away. Scientists warn that we are staring at a time bomb that will explode if we do not decisively cut down our greenhouse gas emissions by 43% by 2030 to keep the 1.5 degrees Celsius goal alive.

The IPCC AR6 report projects more frequent and intense heat waves, droughts, floods, storms, and wildfires under all emission scenarios. This will shoot ongoing climate-related losses and damages in developing countries beyond the coping capacities of the already vulnerable and struggling economies and communities. These impacts have disproportionately burdened the poorest and most marginalized groups that have contributed least to global greenhouse gas emissions.

Additionally, according to the IPCC, Africa has suffered annual losses of $7 billion due to climate change between 2010 and 2019. If we continue with high-emissions scenarios, this figure could rise to $50 billion by 2040. This could cause a 2-4% reduction in Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth per year by 2040 and a 10-25% reduction by 2100. It is therefore crucial to provide urgent finance specifically dedicated to adaptation, loss, and damage to help countries prepare for future displacement, livelihood disruption, and losses.

Unfortunately, developing countries receive too little adaptation finance. According to the Adaptation Gap Report 2022, developing countries received international adaptation finance worth US$28.6 billion in 2020. This amount accounts for a 34% share of total climate finance to developing countries in 2020 and represents only a 4% increase from the previous year. The report also reveals that the adaptation needs are estimated to be USD 340 billion per year by 2030, which means that the costs could reach $500 billion annually by 2050.

The Pan African Climate Justice Alliance, representing civil society organizations in Africa, is deeply concerned about the current state of climate change financing. There is a lack of commitment to provide essential financial support to the countries and communities that need it most. The Green Climate Fund was created to finance climate action, partly because multilateral development banks (MDBs), including the World Bank, were not suitable for administering climate finance due to their business approach. Unfortunately, most of the finance provided by these institutions comes in the form of loans for disaster recovery and reconstruction, which is unjust. The most vulnerable victims of the climate crisis bear the burden of the costs despite having done the least to create it. The sad reality is that poor and vulnerable countries must choose between paying off their debts or addressing the climate risks they face. These countries are already trapped in a debt spiral as they try to recover from each new shock.

We note and recall that:

African countries have recognized the urgent need to address the impacts of climate change, which are already affecting the continent. They have prioritized climate adaptation over mitigation, acknowledging that while mitigation efforts are crucial, adaptation measures are more immediate and critical for safeguarding lives and livelihoods in Africa. Read More FINAL CSOs Statement- Morocco Declaration