30 July - 5 August 2012 - orsam

African States Mull National Umbrella Funds to Deal With Climate Change
nairoBi, Kenya — Countries in southern and eastern Africa are considering establishing national
umbrella funds to support high-impact interventions that combat the effects of climate change.
At a sub-regional workshop on climate finance held in Nairobi last week, government officials from
the regions endorsed creation of national basket funds to help countries manage droughts, floods and
habitat loss.
The Nairobi climate finance forum was organized by the Common Market for East and Southern
African States (COMESA) in partnership with bilateral donors, UN agencies, local private sector
businesses and farmers‘ groups.
Participants discussed the types of financing mechanisms countries in Sub-Saharan Africa will have
to adopt to prevent social, economic and ecological disturbances.
Climate change remains a huge threat to sustainable development in Africa, but most countries on the
continent have limited financial and technical capacity to address the challenge.
Ali Mohammed, permanent secretary at Kenya‘s Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources,
said southern and eastern Africa were the epicenters of climate change‘s devastating effects.
―In 2011, several countries in the arid and semi-arid lands of Eastern Africa experienced some of the
worst climate impacts in 60 years. Widespread drought resulted in food and water insecurity,
conflicts and livelihood challenges,‖ he said.
Mohammed said that the 2011 drought highlighted the need to apply ecosystem-based approaches to
climate change adaptation, including sound management of trans-boundary waters.
African countries should mobilize domestic and external finances for projects dealing with smart
agriculture, reforestation and water management, he said.
Kenya has adopted a national climate change strategy ―that stress[es] the need to finance
interventions that would shield populations from severe droughts and floods,‖ he added.
Sonnyboy Shongwe a COMESA climate specialist, urged African governments to partner with the
private sector to establish innovative financing mechanisms.
―There is a need to create an umbrella climate fund to help implement adaptation and mitigation
projects in agriculture, water, energy and forestry,‖ Shongwe told OOSKAnews.
Within these funds, both the government and the private sector would contribute resources to help
combat climate change, he said.
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