GCA and Agence Française de Développement sign Memorandum of Understanding to accelerate climate adaptation in Africa
Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 5 September 2022 – The Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to formalize their collaboration to accelerate adaptation action in one of the world’s most climate vulnerable regions, the African continent.
AFD and GCA announced their collaboration during the Africa Adaptation Summit with global leaders hosted by GCA, together with the African Union, the African Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Africa Adaptation Initiative and the Climate Vulnerable Forum.
The signing ceremony was witnessed by H.E. Macky Sall, President of Senegal and Chairperson of the African Union, and by the French Minister of State for Development, Francophonie and International Partnerships H.E. Chrysoula Zacharopoulou.
The MoU provides a framework for the two organizations to collaborate in accelerating, innovating and scaling up adaptation action. AFD and GCA will work together on the design and implementation of multiple adaptation projects in Africa. They have already started working on two groundbreaking initiatives:
· a locally-led project that mainstreams climate resilience into economic development projects aimed at poor and climate-vulnerable communities in Rwanda
· a project that involves remote sensing and spatial monitoring of the Great Green Wall Initiative, an Africa-led movement that seeks to restore degraded land over 8,000 km in the Sahel and transform millions of lives.
These projects fall under the umbrella of the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP), developed jointly by the African Development Bank and GCA to actualize the vision of the Africa Adaptation Initiative. This program will mobilize US$25 billion by 2025 for climate adaptation in food security, resilient infrastructure, adaptation jobs and climate finance. The AAAP’s Upstream Financing Facility, which has influenced more than $3 billion of downstream investments with Multilateral Development Banks in 19 countries across Africa, will support the preparation of adaptation activities of these projects.
The two organizations will also collaborate by sharing knowledge and disseminating research on climate risks and adaptation solutions, including the outreach of GCA’s annual flagship report, the State and Trends in Adaptation.
Through the MoU, AFD and GCA will work jointly on building capacity to increase finance flows for adaptation projects and programs and collaborate on advocating the importance of climate adaptation in the regions where AFD operates.
About the Agence Française de Développement Group
AFD Group implements France’s policy in the areas of development and international solidarity. The Group includes Agence Française de Développement (AFD), which finances the public sector and NGOs, as well as research and education in sustainable development; its subsidiary Proparco, which is dedicated to private sector financing; and Expertise France, a technical cooperation agency. The Group finances, supports and accelerates transitions towards a fairer, more resilient world.
With our partners, we are building shared solutions with and for the people of the Global South. Our teams are at work on more than 4,000 projects in the field, in the French Overseas Departments and Territories, in 115 countries and in regions in crisis. We strive to protect global public goods – promoting a stable climate, biodiversity and peace, as well as gender equality, education and healthcare. In this way, we contribute to the commitment of France and the French people to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Towards a world in common.
afd.fr/en
About the Global Center on Adaptation
The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) is an international organization which works as a solutions broker to accelerate action and support for adaptation solutions, from the international to the local, in partnership with the public and private sector. Founded in 2018, GCA operates from its headquarters in the largest floating office in the world, located in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. GCA has a worldwide network of regional offices in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire; Dhaka, Bangladesh and Beijing, China.
Press contacts:
Alexandra Gee – alex.gee@gca.org – +44 7887 804594
Mathilde Limito – limitom@afd.fr – +33 7 52 62 55 32
