IVORY COAST: GCA to facilitate €2bn for climate resilience

The Global Centre for Adaptation (GCA) will facilitate the mobilisation of €2 billion for adaptation and climate resilience projects in Ivory Coast. The memorandum of understanding for this commitment was signed on 16 June 2022 in Abidjan. The funds mobilised by the GCA will be part of Ivory Coast's sustainable bond programme.

The Global Centre for Adaptation (GCA) is active for Ivory Coast. The international organization, which works as a solutions broker to accelerate action and support for adaptation solutions, and the Ivorian government signed a memorandum of understanding on 16 June 2022 in Abidjan, the economic capital of Ivory Coast. In this memorandum, the GCA commits to facilitating the mobilization of 2 billion euros for the financing of climate resilience projects.

“We hope that, through our Africa Adaptation Acceleration Programme, other countries on the continent will follow Ivory Coast’s lead so that the finance is in place to implement the adaptation measures needed to secure the future lives and livelihoods of people across the continent,” says Patrick Verkooijen, GCA’s CEO. The €2 billion in climate finance that GCA will facilitate will be in addition to the €2 billion targeted by Ivory Coast’s sustainable bond program.

The West African country is further bolstered by the prospect of private sector investment, which is essential to achieving its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). “Public spending alone cannot fill the financing gap for climate change adaptation measures. Private sector investment must therefore evolve alongside public investment to supplement limited resources. We very much welcome the support of the Global Adaptation Centre in providing technical assistance and capacity building to conduct a review of public spending and the institutional framework for the climate to identify adaptation assets,” says Adama Coulibaly, Ivorian Minister of Economy and Finance.

Ivory Coast has set up an ESG (environment, social and governance) Committee to select projects financed by sustainable bonds. The ESG Committee is led by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, through the Directorate of Public Debt and Grants. As part of its NDC, the country has identified 11 sectors vulnerable to climate change and has estimated the total cost of implementing adaptation measures at €1.7 billion.

Boris Ngounou | https://www.afrik21.africa/