NAIROBI, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Experts began a two-day meeting in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi on Tuesday to discuss ways to increase climate finance in Africa.
The first Climate Change Global Business Summit on Africa brought together more than 200 participants from the United Nations, the African Development Bank (AfDB), and senior government and private sector officials from across Africa to increase the amount of funding dedicated to climate change mitigation and adaptation in the region.
Winnie Chepkemoi Mutai, the AfDB's climate finance specialist, said Africa receives climate finance amounting to about 250 billion U.S. dollars annually, which is about 10 percent of the figure required to combat climate change.
"The continent needs to attract more private sector finance in order to bridge its climate finance gap," Mutai added.
She noted that multilateral development finance institutions should strengthen their role in de-risking green projects to make it more attractive for domestic and international private sector players to enter the green space.
Khadija AI-Makhzoumi, Somalia's minister of environment and climate change, said Africa is experiencing the most severe economic impacts of climate change compared to other regions, despite being the lowest emitter of pollutants in the world.
AI-Makhzoumi added that Africa faces numerous barriers to attracting finance, including high interest rates for green projects such as geothermal, solar, and wind energy projects.
The air travel sector in Africa contributes less than 2 percent of the continent's carbon emissions, said Alcinda Pereira, chairperson of the Africa Business Aviation Association, adding that greening of Africa's aviation through initiatives such as the use of biofuels or reliance on newer aircraft is likely to result in more climate finance into the continent. ■
