First North-South International Organization Headquarters Announced by Global Center on Adaptation
HE President William Ruto of Kenya hosted the GCA Board at the foot of Mount Kenya with Nairobi to accommodate a new dual headquarters of the global organization
S agana State Lodge, Mount Kenya, Kenya, 1st April 2025 – The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) will establish a second, dual-headquarters on equal footing with its seat at Rotterdam, in a crucial underscoring of North-South partnership for the principal international organization dedicated to building resilience to climate change. The GCA unveiled the decision to inaugurate GCA’s new headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, during its Board Meeting hosted by His Excellency President William Ruto of the Republic of Kenya.
President Ruto remarked that Africa faced serious risks without a strong Global Center and the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP), the GCA’s flagship program:
“We face security risks, forced migration, health challenges, job losses, and macro-economic instability. Risks that Europe and others will not be immune to. But with the Global Center and AAAP, we have been shown it doesn’t have to be this way.” He added: “I am therefore very pleased to announce that Kenya has signed a hosting agreement with the Global Center. We look forward to playing host to the GCA’s new dual headquarters. After all, Africa is the most vulnerable continent to the climate crisis and we are also the cradle of climate solutions.”
President Ruto concluded his remarks with a call on partners to step up financial support for climate adaptation, for the GCA and its new headquarters and the AAAP program, underscoring the need for means to match the reality of climate challenges faced in Africa and to capitalize on the success of the Center’s programs.
His Excellency Ban Ki-moon, 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations and Honorary Chair of the GCA, commended the occasion and stressed the urgency of expanding solutions across the continent:
“The signing of the headquarters agreement is a major milestone in the development of the Global Center on Adaptation but more importantly, by establishing the GCA as first South-North managed international organization, we are demonstrating the power of international partnership at a time of unprecedented global tensions among powers.”
His Excellency Macky Sall, 4th President of the Republic of Senegal and new Chair of the GCA Supervisory Board, underscored Africa’s core role in global adaptation efforts:
“We need to remain very focused on the task of building resilient economies. As the climate crisis escalates in the world’s most vulnerable regions like Africa, there can no longer be development without adaptation at its heart. With the success of AAAP and our new headquarters in Africa, we can succeed and make a substantial difference for Africa and for the world.”
Reflecting the critical need for greater resilience to climate change, the meeting brought together heads of state, international dignitaries, and GCA leadership to chart the next phase of the Center’s global adaptation agenda.
Feike Sijbesma, Co-Chair of the GCA Supervisory Board and Supervisory Board Chair of Philips, for his part, spotlighted the private sector’s pivotal contribution in climate adaptation:
“We need the help of the private sector as we work to build resilience worldwide: their innovation, techniques, competencies, and financial resources.”
GCA President Professor Patrick V. Verkooijen, provided an update on the Center’s impact to date—over USD 15 billion of climate-proofed development projects, spanning some 40 countries and creating more than a million jobs—and outlined an ambitious trajectory for the years ahead:
“The model of AAAP has been proven. Your evaluations confirmed our value-for-money proposition. We are building the ecosystem for resilient economies across Africa. In the ‘new world order’, adaptation is more important than ever before. We know what works, we have to keep scaling up. Yet, we can only scale up if we have the financial resources. But the clear message is: we are ready to move.”
Discussions during the Board meeting also focused on “AAAP 2.0,” the second phase of the flagship Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program. Building on a target of shaping USD 25 billion in adaptation investments by the end of 2025, African leaders and GCA board members called for a further upscaling of its ambition, widening the program’s scope to include health, further sectors, and closer collaboration with the world of business and finance. The Board additionally reviewed GCA’s new 2030 Theory of Change, which outlines an expanded mandate to bring adaptation mainstreaming into development finance on a global scale, increase empowerment of youth, and bolstering partnerships with commercial banks to unlock fresh investments in resilience.
In closing, the Board reiterated a united call for enhanced collaboration among development partners, private financiers, and African governments to scale climate adaptation. Presidents Sall and Ruto expressed gratitude to GCA’s partners—including the United Kingdom, Norway, France, Denmark, Canada, the Netherlands, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation—for their pivotal support, encouraging them to deepen their commitments to adaptation in the face of escalating climate risks. Participating partners were vocal in reaffirming their support for the Center and its new direction and presence in Africa and Nairobi.
Attendees
According to the official meeting agenda, notable participants in the 1 April 2025 Advisory Board meeting included:
- H.E. William Ruto, Hon. President of the Republic of Kenya (Host)
- H.E. Macky Sall, Chair of the GCA Supervisory Board, Hon. 4th President of the Republic of Senegal
- H.E. Ban Ki-moon, Honorary Chair of the Global Center on Adaptation, 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations
- Dr. Feike Sijbesma, Co-Chair of the GCA Supervisory Board, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Philips
- Prof. Patrick V. Verkooijen, GCA President & CEO
- H.E. Hilda Heine, Hon. President of the Marshall Islands
- H.E. Thani Mohamed-Soilihi, Hon. Minister of State for Francophonie and International Partnerships of France
- H.E. Åsmund Grøver Aukrust, Hon. Minister of International Development of Norway
- H.E. Mr. Neil Wigan, High Commissioner of the UK, on behalf of Ms. Jenny Bates, Director General at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office of the United Kingdom
- Mr. Bo Li, Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, on behalf of Dr. Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the IMF
- H.E. Amb. Selma Malika Haddadi, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission on behalf of H.E. Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, Chairperson
- Mr. Rémy Rioux, CEO of Agence Française de Développement
- Dr. Kevin Kariuki, Vice President of the African Development Bank, on behalf of Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank
- Mr. Jiang Zhaoli, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Climate Change, Ministry of Ecology & Environment, People’s Republic of China, on behalf of H.E. Huang Runqiu, Minister for Ecology & Environment
- Mr. Martien van Nieuwkoop, Director of Agricultural Development at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, on behalf of Mr. Rodger Voorhies, President
- H.E. Stephan Schønemann, Ambassador of Denmark to Kenya, on behalf of Mr. Ole Thonke, Undersecretary for Development Policy
- Dr. Richard Muyungi, Special Envoy of, and on behalf of, H.E. Samia Suluhu Hassan, President of the United Republic of Tanzania
- Mr. José Antonio Meade, Former Finance & Foreign Minister, Mexico
