Climate Change Adaptation in Africa: the Role of the African Development Bank”

1. Climate Change Adaptation in Africa: the Role of the African Development Bank” Daniele Ponzi Manager Sustainable Development Division 7th Annual Donors’ Meeting on Agriculture and Rural Development in West and Central Africa 30-31 October 2007, TUNIS – Tunisia AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

2. Contents • Key impacts and threats in Africa • The Response: Climate Adaptation • Adaptation: The Bank Approach • Adaptation: Bank Policy • Adaptation: Capacity Building (Climate information) • Adaptation: Project Interventions • Conclusions

3. Projected Impacts of Climate Change Source: Stern Review

4. 1. Climate Change effects and impacts • More severe droughts • Desertification • Changing eco systems • Reduced crop yields • Floodings and storms • Increased vector diseases • Rising sea level

5. Africa: Key Impacts • Africa is the least responsible but hardest hit continent • Water: By 2020, 75-250 million people will face increased water stress. • This will adversely affect livelihoods and exacerbate water-related problems. North Africa: acute water scarcity problems. • Agriculture: The area suitable for agriculture, length of growing season, and yield potential is expected to decrease, particularly in semi-arid and arid areas. • Food security will be compromised, malnutrition will increase.

6. Africa: Key Impacts (contd.) • Fisheries: Decreasing fisheries in large lakes due to rising water temperatures will negatively affect local food supply. • Health:Vector borne diseases will shift. • Increases in malaria are expected in Southern Africa and the East African highlands. Flood- and drought-related illnesses will increase. (Cholera, malaria, rift valley fever, etc) • Sea Level Rise: • Mangroves and coral reefs will be further degraded, with additional consequences for fisheries and tourism. • People at risk from coastal flooding (from 1 mill in 1990 to 70 mill. in 2080) • Cost of adaptation to sea level rise in coastal areas could be 5-10% of GDP.

7. Africa’s Vulnerability • Africa is particularly vulnerable to impacts of climate variability and climate change because of its multiple stresses and low adaptive capacity • Climate change will threaten all aspects of the development agenda: • Income poverty and hunger (the poorest hardest hit) • Direct and indirect health effects (malaria, Tsetse fly, etc) • Displacement, migration and conflict • Impacts already here (Natural resources & Infrastructure) • Equity Dimension: Developed countries are responsible for the problem and will have to provide assistance (financial, technical, etc.)

8. The Response: Adaptation • Adaptation is essential to manage climate change impacts and maximize development outcomes. • Development is key to adaptation: it enhances resilience (reducing vulnerabilities) and increases capacity. • Adaptation requires economy-wide planning, regional co-operation as well as local engagement • Leadership and co-ordination is essential: key role for Heads of Government, Finance and Economic Ministries, active engagement of local communities and stakeholders

9. The Response: Adaptation Examples: • Weather & Climate Forecasting (farmers’ decisions) • Historical & Real Time climate observations (EWS) • Improved disaster management and response • More resilient crop varieties (drought resilient) • Technologies for water conservation and irrigation • New methods to combat land degradation • Prevention and treatment of malaria and other water- and vector- borne diseases

10. Adaptation: Bank Approach • The Bank has started in 2006 a climate adaptation and climate risk management program with interventions at policy, capacity and project level. • The Bank adopts an integrated Climate Risk Management approach • i.e. integrating adaptation and disaster risk management (promoting climate change adaptation by addressing first current climate variability risks (reducing costs of natural disasters, urgency & immediate benefits, avoiding wrong adaptation) • i.e. climate change as an economic and social risk rather than a long term environmental problem • This will generate synergies and local benefits, both directly and indirectly, towards sustainable development and poverty reduction.

11. Bank Approach: CRM Policy 1. CRM Policy : • AfDB is currently working on the preparation of its new Policy on climate risk management and adaptation. The policy has 2 pillars: • A) Due diligence in Bank operations: It will guide AfDB’s future work to “climate proof” its portfolio of operations (agriculture, natural resources, human development and infrastructure investments, among others) and • B) Targeted Assistance to RMCs: It will support African countries’ early efforts to improve their resilience to current climate variability and future climate change impacts;

12. Bank Approach: Capacity Building 2. Capacity building (Climate Information): • AfDB is active in supporting capacity building for adaptation at Bank and country level • Supporting development of tools and approaches for “climate proofing” and climate resilience country strategy and project development (climate screening tools, climate assessments, and country and sector climate vulnerability profiles). • Tools, methods and lessons (relating to plans/policies, institutions, investments) will also result from various adaptation and SLM projects now under preparation;

13. Bank Approach: Capacity Building (cont.d) Climate Information: • Bank has activities on climate information for development, disaster risk reduction and improved natural resources management with various African institutions and bilateral agencies. • AfDB is a partner, together with the African Union and UN ECA, of the Joint-Secretariat for Clim-Dev Africa (Climate for Development in Africa program) and is already contributing, both financially and technically, to a number of activities under this program.

14. Bank Approach: Projects 3. Project interventions: AfDB has recently obtained approval by the GEF Secretariat of a Project Preparation Grant (PPG) for a climate adaptation proposal in Malawi. • The project (Malawi Climate Adaptation for Rural Livelihoods and Agriculture – CARLA-next slide) is linked to an ADB agriculture and water irrigation project in July 2006 and is one of the first projects to be approved by GEF under the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) adaptation window. • A number of additional GEF adaptation projects will be prepared in 2007-2008, including interventions in Mauritania, Burundi and Madagascar, in partnership respectively with UNEP, UNDP and the World Bank. • Adaptation dimensions are also addressed through Bank SLM projects under the TERRAFRICA SIP program (Zambia & Gambia) • All these projects will have strong linkages with sustainable land and water management;

15. Adaptation projects: CARLA(Climate Adaptation for Rural Livelihoods and Agriculture-Malawi) • CARLA is linked and will “climate proof” an ADB agriculture and irrigation project approved last year. • CARLA will "improve resilience to current climate variability and future climate change by developing and implementing cost-effective adaptation strategies, policies and measures that will improve agricultural production and rural livelihoods". • 2 adaptation components (hard & soft) will support: • (i) Investments aimed at improving agricultural, land management and natural systems as well as rural livelihoods through targeted on the ground adaptation interventions, fostering adaptation of individuals, communities and the private sector; and • (ii) and Climate risk management, including plans, policies, legislation/regulations, and resource allocation; institutional coordination; generation and tailoring of knowledge on climate risk management for specific user groups (particularly in the context of the investment component); and awareness raising.

16. CONCLUSIONS The Bank will need to : • Step up adaptation mainstreaming in its operations, including country strategies and interventions in infrastructure, agriculture and human development. This will maximize development results. • Start adaptation mainstreaming for high climate risk investment operations, i.e. due diligence (pillar 1). • Provide adaptation support to its RMCs (pillar 2) based on its own and its partners’ growing adaptation experience and knowledge. Given the magnitude of the challenge and the current insufficient scale of resources, the Bank will further need to: • Strategically leverage partnerships and find most effective ways to mainstream adaptation with the limited resources available. • Advocate, in the most appropriate ways, for new and additional streams of funding to address the inequities associated with rising climate risks

17. Thank you d.ponzi@afdb.org