The African Development Bank and partner institutions of the Africa NDC Hub have published a flagship report on the status of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in Africa and the imperative for climate finance innovation.
The report provides key action points needed to bring African countries on course to meeting their commitments under the Paris climate agreement, including setting up system enablers to crowd-in private capital. The study presents a compelling narrative on the pathway to raising ambition through NDC implementation, mapping out climate finance flows for both mitigation and adaptation, and investment strategy options to accelerate NDC interventions.
Most importantly, the report conveys the message of a continent with great potential to reach net-zero emissions and climate resilience within the timelines proposed by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its recent assessment.
The Africa NDC Hub report was launched at the Africa Pavilion at COP26 in Glasgow. In a keynote speech at the event, Seychelles Finance Minister Naadir Hassan pointed to the IPCC report’s projection that the world could reach global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels as early as 2030. “Africa is well-positioned for climate action following the revision of NDCs,” he said. The support received by Seychelles during the revision of its Nationally Determined Contributions was made feasible by partners stepping up to work together to drive the process beyond their own mandates, he said.
Uzoamaka Nwamarah, Climate Change Adviser at the Commonwealth Secretariat, said: “As one of the Africa NDC Hub partners, the Commonwealth Secretariat through its Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub, with embedded national climate advisers in five African countries, remains committed to supporting and fast-tracking NDC implementation in vulnerable member countries by way of enhanced access to climate finance.”
“The Africa NDC Hub is a vehicle through which the African Development Bank and its partners harness the power of partnerships to create the systemic change necessary to drive transformative actions for an inclusive and climate resilient future,” said Al Hamndou Dorsouma, Officer-In-Charge, Climate Change and Green Growth at the African Development Bank.
Under the fourth pillar of the African Development Bank’s new Climate Change and Green Growth Strategic Framework (2021-2030), the Bank will support regional member countries to strengthen policy and regulatory environments to facilitate five-year NDC revisions, long-term low-carbon and climate-resilient development strategies and National Adaptation Plans.