Five ways climate adaptation finance falls short in Africa

Under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), international financial assistance is expected to support developing countries as they prepare for and adapt to the impacts of climate change. African countries are among the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change in terms of food security, health, the economy and ecosystems. Without financial support that helps communities develop in an inclusive manner, and adapt to climate impacts, climate change is projected to push tens of millions more Africans into extreme poverty by 2030.

Assessing the impact of adaptation finance requires knowing how much finance is mobilized for adaptation in Africa and towards which countries, sectors and objectives it is targeted. The authors undertook the first comprehensive quantitative mapping of adaptation-related finance flows to African countries to date. They did so by tracking development finance that principally targeted adaptation, from bilateral and multilateral funders to Africa between 2014 and 2018, based on data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

This research allowed the authors to identify five ways in which finance for adaptation to climate change in Africa falls short. This fact sheet is based on the journal article “Quantifying international public finance for climate change adaptation in Africa“.