Nigeria, Other African Countries to Benefit from UK’s £143.5m Climate Change Support

Kayode Tokede
In a bid to tackle the impact of extreme weather and climate change, the United Kingdom (UK) government has announced a £143.5million funding to support Nigeria and other African governments to roll-out critical adaptation projects.

In a statement, the UK said the £143.5 million programmes to support African countries in adaption to the impact of extreme weather and changing climate include, “£20 million to the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP); £42 million of adaptation allocations under the new Africa Regional Climate and Nature Programme (ARCAN); at least £22 million of premium financing support to help African countries pay for drought insurance; £19.5 million for the Shock Response Programme in the Sahel, including support to the World Bank to strengthen government social protection systems and its committed of about £40 million to the Climate Adaptation and Resilience research programme (CLARE) to support action-focused research to inform development in a changing climate in Africa.”

Aside the above, the UK government said it has a new ‘Room to Run’ guarantee to the African Development Bank (AfDB) that is expected to unlock up to £1.45billion ($2billion) worth of new financing for projects across the continent, “half of which will help countries adapt to the impacts of climate change; doubled its international climate finance to £11.6 billion over five years – with a balance between adaptation and mitigation.”

Nigeria, the statement added, is eligible to benefit from the Africa Regional Climate and Nature Programme (ARCAN), among others projects.
“The UK is a long-standing supporter of Africa’s adaptation to climate change, with around half of the UK’s £2.7 billion ($3.7 billion) adaptation budget between 2016 and 2020 spent in Africa, “it stated.

Early this week, the COP26 President Alok Sharma announced the new UK support for the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP) – an initiative endorsed by African Union leaders and led by the African Development Bank, Global Centre on Adaptation and the Africa Adaptation Initiative, to back African-led plans to accelerate resilience-building across Africa.

The announcements came on the second day of COP26, the two-week UN Climate Change Conference, where world leaders are meeting with the aim to agree how to tackle the urgent threat of global climate change.
UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson also announced the UK is offering an ambitious new guarantee mechanism – the ‘Room to Run’ guarantee – to the AfDB.
This, he said, is expected to unlock up to £1.45 billion ($2 billion) worth of new financing for projects across the continent, half of which will help countries adapt to the impacts of climate change.

UK Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss in the statement said: “More finance for African nations to develop and adapt to climate change is important as these countries find themselves on the frontline of impacts. It is a huge investment opportunity.
“By combining our cash with other donors and businesses, and working with partners such as the African Development Bank to direct funding into green projects, today we are delivering on our commitment to African-led climate adaptation.”

On her part, the UK Minister for Africa Vicky Ford said: “For communities across Africa, the impact of climate change is being felt right now. From cyclones in Southern Africa to locusts in East Africa, changing weather patterns are already having catastrophic impacts for communities living across the continent, impacting lives and jobs. This is despite African nations being responsible for just 2-3% of global emissions.

“New support announced today will enable African countries to adapt to a changing climate and build resilience to the impacts of climate change. This is essential if communities and countries are to thrive in an uncertain future. The UK is a long-standing supporter of Africa’s adaptation to climate change, with around half of the UK’s £2.7 billion ($3.7 billion) adaptation budget between 2016 and 2020 spent in Africa.”

Speaking also, the UK’S Deputy High Commissioner in Lagos, Ben Llewellyn-Jones, said: “Africa is already bearing the brunt of climate impacts as a consequence of dangerous climate chance. The need to scale up adaptation finance to protect the people and economies from the impact of climate change is clear.
“Climate action, building resilience and sustainable development are inextricably linked. Working with key partners such as the African Development Bank and others, this new suite of programmes will support African countries, including Nigeria, to adapt to the effects of climate change.”