NDF-supported projects showcased in Paris summit
Climate adaptation and resilience programs in focus at One Planet Summit on 12 December.
France hosted, in collaboration with the United Nations and the World Bank Group, a high-level summit on climate action mobilisation in Paris on 12 December . The One Planet Summit is a chance to reaffirm the commitment to the Paris Agreement, showcase transformative action, and demonstrate the ways finance is flowing – and needs to flow – for climate action. The summit brought together a diverse, action-oriented group of 1,500+ non-state stakeholders consisting of private sector CEOs, mayors, philanthropists and researchers who are developing solutions, initiatives, and projects that promise to be transformative, scalable, and illustrative of the economic opportunity that climate investments present.
As part of the Summit, the “Climate Agora” provided an interactive 90-minute session with focused attention on twelve concrete initiatives and priorities for action. The Climate Agora comprised three stages, divided by three overarching themes where projects and initiatives were presented and pitched.
Two NDF-backed initiatives were presented in the Climate Agora session focusing on strengthening adaptation and building resilience. The initiatives presented were the West Africa Coastal Areas Program (WACA) and the Climate Adaptation and Resilience Finance & Technology Transfer Facility (CRAFT).
Coastal areas in West Africa are under intense pressure from natural and anthropogenic activities that threaten the infrastructure and livelihoods of an ever-increasing coastal population. 120 million people live in the coastal provinces of the 17 countries from Mauritania to Gabon, accounting for over 40% of West Africa’s GDP. The World Bank and the West African Economic and Monetary Union initiated the WACA program with a technical assistance phase in 2015. The World Bank, Global Environment Facility and Nordic Development Fund are expected to approve an envelope of around US$200 million in 2018 for the first WACA Resilience Investment Project starting in six countries (Mauritania, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, Benin and Sao Tome and Principe).
Ensuring the resilience of the coast of West Africa will require much larger budgets, a high level of political mobilisation, and the transfer of expertise from other regions of the world. The World Bank proposes to set up a “WACA Platform” in response. The platform is envisaged to crowd in finance, foster political dialogue among and within countries, and accelerate the transfer of expertise and good practice to West Africa from other countries or regions of the world that are also struggling with coastal erosion and flooding. The Platform will be launched mid-2018 with planned co-financing by the NDF.
CRAFT is the first private investment strategy focused on companies with climate resilience solutions, including in developing countries where the need is greatest. CRAFT offers a strategy to direct public and private capital towards scaling up climate resilience solutions. The Lightsmith Group, sponsor of the CRAFT strategy, recently announced $1.6 million of funding from Nordic Development Fund and the Global Environment Facility to further develop and launch CRAFT.
NDF’s Vice President and Deputy Managing Director Leena Klossner noted that NDF is very pleased to be supporting these much-needed climate adaptation and resilience focused activities that are being recognised as exemplary by this high level climate summit. “We very much look forward to continuing our excellent collaboration with our partners to bring WACA and CRAFT to scale and generate the development and climate resilience impact we all are seeking,” Ms Klossner noted.
