African Development Bank Group Annual Meeting Side Knowledge Event: Climate Change and Green Growth

Climate change poses great challenges to Africa’s development, but it also presents a unique opportunity for green growth investments within the continent.

Event description:

The Climate Change and Green Growth Knowledge Event, held alongside the Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank Group, will focus on actions and innovative solutions needed to address climate change and promote sustainable green growth in Africa post-Covid.

The objective of this knowledge event is to critically examine the challenges and opportunities to support climate-resilient and low-carbon development in Africa while the continent builds forward better from the Covid-19 pandemic. The 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26), which will be held in Glasgow, from 1 to 12 November 2021 under the presidency of the United Kingdom, aims to bring together all parties to the Convention to accelerate action towards achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement. Described as the most significant climate event since the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015, COP26 is expected to provide a unique opportunity to report back on progress since COP21 in Paris and to take decisions on how best to rapidly cut carbon emissions, build climate resilience and accelerate the delivery of climate finance. Given the importance of COP 26 as a key milestone for the implementation of the Paris Agreement, it is vital that Africa is fully on board, while ensuring linkages with the continent’s development priorities, including the Bank’s “High Five” priorities, and Africa’s climate initiatives such as the recently launched Africa Adaptation Acceleration Programme (AAAP), jointly led by the African Development Bank and Global Center on Adaptation.

Global Center on Adaptation CEO Prof. Patrick Verkooijen will participate in a discussion on Increasing Africa’s Access to Finance for Sustainable Recovery together with Aksel Jakobsen, State Secretary of International Development, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and African Development Bank Governor for Norway; Patricia Fuller, Ambassador for Climate Change, Canada; and Naadir Hassan, Minister of Finance, Trade, Investment and Economic Planning, and African Development Bank Governor for Seychelles.