Africa Adaptation Summit

Friends of GCA High-Level Dialogue for COP27

The Global Center on Adaptation, together with the African Union, African Development Bank, International Monetary Fund, Africa Adaptation Initiative, and the Climate Vulnerable Forum, are convening the Africa Adaptation Summit to lay the foundation for an adaptation breakthrough for Africa at COP27.

Africa is on the frontline of a climate emergency it did not create. The IPCC’s 2022 Sixth Assessment Report highlights Africa’s exposure to the impacts of climate shocks, which will affect millions of people across the continent. These shocks are being compounded by the food, fuel, and fiscal crisis exacerbated by the Ukraine war and the multi-faceted impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Now is not the time to neglect climate action. Africa must harness climate-resilient solutions quickly and at scale. When done right, adaptation generates significant opportunities for job creation, increases in productivity, and poverty reduction. In fact, adaptation holds transformational potential for the African continent. Effective investments in adapting to the hotter, harsher, and more unpredictable climate will be indispensable to unlocking Africa’s full economic potential going forward. With swift and effective action across all sectors, Africa can move forward rapidly on a resilient and green growth pathway, harnessing the powerful synergies between adaptation, growth, and development.

Ahead of the landmark ‘African COP’ at Sharm El-Sheikh, GCA, in collaboration with the African Union, African Development Bank, International Monetary Fund, Africa Adaptation Initiative, and the Climate Vulnerable Forum, is convening the Africa Adaptation Summit to lay the foundation for an adaptation breakthrough for Africa at COP27. This represents a historic opportunity for the global community to deliver on the Glasgow Climate Pact and the need to bridge the multibillion-dollar a year gap in adaptation finance for Africa. Hosted at GCA’s headquarters in the largest floating office in the world in the Netherlands, the Africa Adaptation Summit will serve as an action-forcing platform to deliver commitments to the AAAP and catalyze new coalitions of partners and initiatives to accelerate action on the ground across Africa.

The Summit will bring together global leaders from across governments, international organizations, multilateral development banks, the private sector, mayors, civil society, youth leaders, and other stakeholders to raise the ambition on adaptation action for the continent. The Summit will also provide an opportunity to catalyze new coalitions of partners and initiatives to accelerate action on the ground across Africa, keeping up the momentum and elevating ambition on adaptation ahead of COP27.