The U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry on Tuesday pledged 3 billion USD to help half a billion people in developing countries, especially in Africa, adapt to the worst impacts of this crisis this decade, the first ever largest commitment in U.S. history.
Speaking on the sidelines of the 2023 Africa Climate Summit (ACS) which is taking place in Nairobi, Kenya, the US official pointed out that President Joe Biden wants to work alongside African nations to lead the way in adapting to and managing the impacts of climate change.
In November 2021, President Biden launched the President’s Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience (PREPARE) at COP26 in Glasgow. PREPARE is a whole-of-government effort to help more than half a billion people in developing countries adapt to and manage the impacts of climate change.
“We are working with partners on the Transitional Committee this year to design an effective fund to help vulnerable developing countries respond to loss and damage,” Kerry told delegates at the continental climate gathering in the Kenyan capital city, Nairobi.
It is expected that during the implementation phase, the US Government will provide $20 million in the initial phase to the Africa Adaptation Initiative for the Food Security Accelerator, which, according to Kerry will invest in African agricultural businesses and help them create their own independent and climate resilient supply chains.
The second installment of, $10 million will go to the Climate Resilience and Adaptation Finance and Technology Transfer Facility to scale technologies advancing adaptation like cold chain storage, which help maintain the quality and safety of food from the farm all the way into peoples’ homes, it said.
“Africa has taken on the worst of this crisis, but through PREPARE the United States is ready to help the continent adapt to climate impacts,” he said.
With the State Department, USAID intends to support vulnerable countries around the world in their efforts to develop, implement, and finance their adaptation priorities, as communicated in their National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and other adaptation planning documents.
Estimates by the Global Center on Adaptation released earlier this week shows that climate adaptation finance flows to Africa must increase up to ten-fold to over US$100 billion per year by 2035 to build resilience against the growing impacts of climate change.
Official predictions show that without such investment the continent could lose out on as much as USD$6 trillion of economic benefits by 2035 as every $1 invested in adaptation has been shown to generate a return between USD$2 and USD$10.
