Adaptation Finance


The economic case for investing in climate adaptation is strong. Benefit-cost ratios range from 2:1 to 10:1. Yet, money is not flowing at the pace or scale needed and there is a need to shift the way investment decisions are made to account for climate risks, scaling up and deploying public finance more effectively, scaling disaster risk finance and insurance, as well as harnessing private capital for resilience.

Our Adaptation Finance Program builds the capacity of vulnerable countries to drive adaptation at a much greater scale by planning differently and accessing the key sources of adaptation finance through its business lines:

Contact Information

For more information on this program, or to get involved, please contact:

Mosleh Uddin

Senior Program Officer, Climate Finance
mosleh.uddin@gca.org

Goal for 2025

Increase financial flows for Adaptation and Resilience to the African continent by more than US$ 5 billion between 2021 and 2025

Technical Assistance Program

The Technical Assistance Program (TAP) aims to reduce barriers to large-scale access to multilateral climate funds in Africa and significantly increase the flow of adaptation finance to the region.

The TAP tackles the main barriers faced by African countries in accessing adaptation finance at scale. These include significant gaps in adaptation planning and decision-making, poor technical capacities for adaptation project development and implementation, and a lack of valorization of the groundbreaking direct access modality.

The TAP has three inter-related components:

  • Building capacities for adaptation finance planning and decision-making to lay the groundwork for a long-term partnership for adaptation finance mobilization and implementation
  • Strengthening direct access by facilitating new accreditations and supporting the upgrade of existing National Implementing Entities (NIEs) while ensuring complementarity with the international access modality
  • Promoting inter-sectoral, large-scale, and transformational adaptation projects and programs through inclusive consultative processes aligned with national and regional priorities

Innovative Tools and Instruments for Mobilizing Finance

GCA works to increase the supply of adaptation finance by engaging and mobilizing domestic and international public and private sources. By leveraging the offering and adoption of adaptation-focused financial instruments, finance is mobilized from institutional investors in international and domestic markets, enabling investment into adaptation projects and initiatives. GCA offers technical assistance for structuring blended finance and capital market solutions such as green bonds, private debt, and equity funds or adopting adaptation taxonomy for traditional green lines of credit.

Climate Resilient Financial Systems

GCA is transforming the financial sector architecture to take action on climate risk to ensure financial stability. GCA builds transformation pathways that represent the essential leadership, knowledge, and financing programs that financial stakeholders need to ensure climate-resilient and sustainable financial systems.

In line with its role as a solutions broker, GCA supports the Africa Financial Alliance on Climate Change (AFAC), and the Adaptation and Resilient Investment Collaborative.

Through the AFAC, GCA is working at three levels to enhance the role of the financial system in Africa to mobilize capital for climate-responsive investments:

  • IFIs, to ensure that financial sector investment projects include a focus on adaptation
  • The public sector, to stress test key economic sectors and develop policy solutions for adaptation finance
  • The private sector to climate stress test investment portfolios and to identify measures to address climate risk

Technical and Whitepapers

State and Trends in Climate Adaptation Finance 2024

This report covers global status and trends of adaptation finance and provides a deeper analysis of Africa at a regional level, given the heightened adaptation needs and opportunities on the continent. Across the globe, and especially in Africa, climate smart and resilient development pathways offer enormous investment opportunities with a triple dividend of avoided losses, positive economic gains, and enhanced social and environmental benefits.

18 April 2024

Co-directed by Dr. Ede Jorge Ijjasz-Vasquez and Prof. Jamal Saghir

Accelerating Adaptation Finance – Africa and Global Perspectives

In the context of the Africa Climate Summit, this policy brief highlights the need to dramatically increase the amount and efficacy of adaptation financing to Africa. This brief also spotlights the persistent challenges related to adaptation finance flows in Africa, and highlights priority actions for the global finance community to undertake to address them. 

4 September 2023

Strategy and Planning to Redouble Adaptation in Africa: A Review

This study provides a detailed review of the national strategic adaptation documents prepared by governments in the African continent. It examines the main characteristics of these strategic adaptation plans, their depth and coverage, and the degree to which these documents demonstrate a supportive environment to implement the most critical adaptation programs at scale for each country.

4 September 2023

Past Events

Contact Information

For more information on this program, or to get involved, please contact:

Ali Haider

Senior Climate Finance Specialist
ali.haider@gca.org

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