In his speech at the annual meeting of the African Development Bank in its 58th session, which is being held under the title “Mobilizing private sector finance for climate and green growth in Africa” in the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh , Al-Jaber said: “Countries on the African continent are qualified to present a successful model of sustainable and low-carbon development, given that it has great potential, but there is a fundamental challenge that hinders this desired progress, which is the lack of financing on flexible terms, at an appropriate cost and in an easily accessible manner, which undermines both the goals of global climate action and sustainable development in Africa.
He explained that only 2% of the $3 trillion invested in renewable energy globally over the past twenty years has reached Africa, noting that if climate finance is rebalanced in Africa, this continent will be a successful model. low-carbon sustainable development.
As a first step to closing the financing gap, Al-Jaber called on developed countries to commit to providing the $100 billion in climate finance they pledged more than a decade ago. and concrete measures will be taken in the near future.
He added: “The 54 African countries are the least affected by climate change, contributing less than 4% of global emissions, but they are the most affected by its impacts, as the quality of more than 700 million hectares of agricultural land has declined across the continent, and this area is twice the size of India.
He pointed out that Africa is losing an additional 4 million hectares of land every year, coinciding with droughts and food insecurity that force people to migrate, weaken biodiversity and affect lives and livelihoods, highlighting the presence of 600 million people who do not benefit from electricity, and almost a billion people do not have access to clean cooking fuels.
Al-Jaber pointed out that achieving radical progress and the desired qualitative change requires changing working methods to attract the necessary financing from the private sector, and that developing the performance of international financial institutions and multilateral banks will help make a big difference in this area, by providing more finance on flexible terms, mitigating risk and attracting capital from the private sector, explaining that the COP28 conference presidency is exploring a number of additional mechanisms to increase the flow of private sector financing to Africa.
He continued, “By adopting policies and regulations that create a positive investment climate and encourage private sector participation, African governments can build strong plans for sustainable investment, and in turn, the failure to provide Sufficient and effective climate finance to Africa will push many countries down an emissions-intensive path. For development, and this will negatively affect everyone, and there is a significant lack of funding for the issue of adaptation, which forces donor countries to double their commitments in this area by 2050.
And he indicated that the African continent has great potential which qualifies it to be a model of sustainable, low-carbon and high-growth development, adding: “Instead of remaining dependent on old technologies, Africa can become a center for renewable energy sources and a world leader for growth based on clean energy sources, and financing is the main factor. It’s about turning good intentions into tangible results.
Al-Jaber concluded his speech by saying, “During the current year, which will see a comprehensive assessment of the progress made in the implementation of the objectives of the Paris Agreement, we must unite and unify the efforts of all countries and all stakeholders on this issue, as well as on all topics of the climate action agenda, because the key is to address the impacts of climate change. Therefore, providing the necessary climate finance will help Africa grow and help put the world back on track to implement the goals of the Paris Agreement, and also enable a logical transition in the sector. according to the Emirates news agency, WAM.
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