Climate Change Adaptation in Africa: the Role of the African Development Bank

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Climate Change Adaptation in Africa the Role
of the African Development Bank

• Daniele Ponzi
• Manager
• Sustainable Development Division
• 7th Annual Donors Meeting
• on Agriculture and Rural Development in West and
  Central Africa
• 30-31 October 2007, TUNIS Tunisia
• AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

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Contents

• Key impacts and threats in Africa
• The Response Climate Adaptation
• Adaptation The Bank Approach
• Adaptation Bank Policy
• Adaptation Capacity Building (Climate
  information)
• Adaptation Project Interventions
• Conclusions

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Projected Impacts of Climate Change
Source Stern Review
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1. Climate Change effects and impacts

• More severe droughts
• Desertification
• Changing eco systems
• Reduced crop yields
• Floodings and storms
• Increased vector diseases
• Rising sea level

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Africa Key Impacts

• Africa is the least responsible but hardest hit
  continent
• Water By 2020, 75-250 million people will face
  increased water stress.
• This will adversely affect livelihoods and
  exacerbate water-related problems. North Africa
  acute water scarcity problems.
• Agriculture The area suitable for agriculture,
  length of growing season, and yield potential is
  expected to decrease, particularly in semi-arid
  and arid areas.
• Food security will be compromised, malnutrition
  will increase.

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Africa Key Impacts (contd.)

• Fisheries Decreasing fisheries in large lakes
  due to rising water temperatures will negatively
  affect local food supply.
• Health Vector borne diseases will shift.
• Increases in malaria are expected in Southern
  Africa and the East African highlands. Flood- and
  drought-related illnesses will increase.
  (Cholera, malaria, rift valley fever, etc)
• Sea Level Rise
• Mangroves and coral reefs will be further
  degraded, with additional consequences for
  fisheries and tourism.
• People at risk from coastal flooding (from 1 mill
  in 1990 to 70 mill. in 2080)
• Cost of adaptation to sea level rise in coastal
  areas could be 5-10 of GDP.

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Africas Vulnerability

• Africa is particularly vulnerable to impacts of
  climate variability and climate change because of
  its multiple stresses and low adaptive capacity
• Climate change will threaten all aspects of the
  development agenda
• Income poverty and hunger (the poorest hardest
  hit)
• Direct and indirect health effects (malaria,
  Tsetse fly, etc)
• Displacement, migration and conflict
• Impacts already here (Natural resources
  Infrastructure)
• Equity Dimension Developed countries are
  responsible for the problem and will have to
  provide assistance (financial, technical, etc.)

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The Response Adaptation

• Adaptation is essential to manage climate change
  impacts and maximize development outcomes.
• Development is key to adaptation it enhances
  resilience (reducing vulnerabilities) and
  increases capacity.
• Adaptation requires economy-wide planning,
  regional co-operation as well as local engagement
• Leadership and co-ordination is essential key
  role for Heads of Government, Finance and
  Economic Ministries, active engagement of local
  communities and stakeholders

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The Response Adaptation

• Examples
• Weather Climate Forecasting (farmers
  decisions)
• Historical Real Time climate observations (EWS)
• Improved disaster management and response
• More resilient crop varieties (drought resilient)
• Technologies for water conservation and
  irrigation
• New methods to combat land degradation
• Prevention and treatment of malaria and other
  water- and vector- borne diseases

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Adaptation Bank Approach

• The Bank has started in 2006 a climate adaptation
  and climate risk management program with
  interventions at policy, capacity and project
  level.
• The Bank adopts an integrated Climate Risk
  Management approach
• i.e. integrating adaptation and disaster risk
  management (promoting climate change adaptation
  by addressing first current climate variability
  risks (reducing costs of natural disasters,
  urgency immediate benefits, avoiding wrong
  adaptation)
• i.e. climate change as an economic and social
  risk rather than a long term environmental
  problem
• This will generate synergies and local benefits,
  both directly and indirectly, towards sustainable
  development and poverty reduction.

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Bank Approach CRM Policy

• 1. CRM Policy
• AfDB is currently working on the preparation of
  its new Policy on climate risk management and
  adaptation. The policy has 2 pillars
• A) Due diligence in Bank operations It will
  guide AfDBs future work to climate proof its
  portfolio of operations (agriculture, natural
  resources, human development and infrastructure
  investments, among others) and
• B) Targeted Assistance to RMCs It will support
  African countries early efforts to improve their
  resilience to current climate variability and
  future climate change impacts

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Bank Approach Capacity Building

• 2. Capacity building (Climate Information)
• AfDB is active in supporting capacity building
  for adaptation at Bank and country level
• Supporting development of tools and approaches
  for climate proofing and climate resilience
  country strategy and project development (climate
  screening tools, climate assessments, and country
  and sector climate vulnerability profiles).
• Tools, methods and lessons (relating to
  plans/policies, institutions, investments) will
  also result from various adaptation and SLM
  projects now under preparation

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Bank Approach Capacity Building (cont.d)

• Climate Information
• Bank has activities on climate information for
  development, disaster risk reduction and improved
  natural resources management with various African
  institutions and bilateral agencies.
• AfDB is a partner, together with the African
  Union and UN ECA, of the Joint-Secretariat for
  Clim-Dev Africa (Climate for Development in
  Africa program) and is already contributing, both
  financially and technically, to a number of
  activities under this program.

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Bank Approach Projects

• 3. Project interventions
• AfDB has recently obtained approval by the GEF
  Secretariat of a Project Preparation Grant (PPG)
  for a climate adaptation proposal in Malawi.
• The project (Malawi Climate Adaptation for Rural
  Livelihoods and Agriculture CARLA-next slide)
  is linked to an ADB agriculture and water
  irrigation project in July 2006 and is one of the
  first projects to be approved by GEF under the
  Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) adaptation
  window.
• A number of additional GEF adaptation projects
  will be prepared in 2007-2008, including
  interventions in Mauritania, Burundi and
  Madagascar, in partnership respectively with
  UNEP, UNDP and the World Bank.
• Adaptation dimensions are also addressed through
  Bank SLM projects under the TERRAFRICA SIP
  program (Zambia Gambia)
• All these projects will have strong linkages with
  sustainable land and water management

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Adaptation projects CARLA (Climate Adaptation
for Rural Livelihoods and Agriculture-Malawi)

• CARLA is linked and will climate proof an ADB
  agriculture and irrigation project approved last
  year.
• CARLA will "improve resilience to current climate
  variability and future climate change by
  developing and implementing cost-effective
  adaptation strategies, policies and measures that
  will improve agricultural production and rural
  livelihoods".
• 2 adaptation components (hard soft) will
  support
• (i) Investments aimed at improving agricultural,
  land management and natural systems as well as
  rural livelihoods through targeted on the ground
  adaptation interventions, fostering adaptation of
  individuals, communities and the private sector
  and
• (ii) and Climate risk management, including
  plans, policies, legislation/regulations, and
  resource allocation institutional coordination
  generation and tailoring of knowledge on climate
  risk management for specific user groups
  (particularly in the context of the investment
  component) and awareness raising.

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CONCLUSIONS

• The Bank will need to
• Step up adaptation mainstreaming in its
  operations, including country strategies and
  interventions in infrastructure, agriculture and
  human development. This will maximize development
  results.
• Start adaptation mainstreaming for high climate
  risk investment operations, i.e. due diligence
  (pillar 1).
• Provide adaptation support to its RMCs (pillar 2)
  based on its own and its partners growing
  adaptation experience and knowledge.
• Given the magnitude of the challenge and the
  current insufficient scale of resources, the Bank
  will further need to
• Strategically leverage partnerships and find most
  effective ways to mainstream adaptation with the
  limited resources available.
• Advocate, in the most appropriate ways, for new
  and additional streams of funding to address the
  inequities associated with rising climate risks

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• Thank you
• d.ponzi_at_afdb.org