Ireland and Austria join the Africa Climate Change Fund as donors, contributing €3 million
The Republic of Ireland and the Republic of Austria have contributed €2 million and €1 million, respectively, to foster the work of the Africa Climate Change Fund. In a signed letter addressed to Mrs. Hassatou N’Sele, Vice-President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer at the African Development Bank, Mr. Harald Waiglein, Director General at the Federal Ministry of Finance of Austria, expressed Austria’s commitment to tackling climate change with a strong focus on climate change adaptation.
Commenting on Austria’s contribution to the ACCF, Mr. Waiglein said “the Federal Ministry of Finance of Austria decided to contribute to the ACCF to support activities of the Africa NDC Hub, including the development and update of Nationally Determined Contributions and Long-Term Climate Strategies of African countries.”
“We consider these strategies essential to combat climate change and further sustainable development,” Waiglein added.
Mr. Sean Fleming, Minister for International Development and the Diaspora, added, “Ireland is committed to supporting communities across Africa to deal with the impacts of climate change. A focus on adaptation and support to African countries continues to be at the very core of Ireland’s engagement in climate action. Ireland will more than double its climate finance to developing countries by 2025. This contribution to the ACCF has a strong focus on climate adaptation and is another indication of how Ireland supports the drive for a climate-resilient Africa.”
The donors joined the Fund in November and December 2022, respectively.
Professor Anthony Nyong, Director of Climate Change and Green Growth at the African Development Bank, said, “The Bank is delighted to welcome Ireland and Austria as donors to ACCF. These new funds will enable the ACCF to support the preparation and strengthening of NDCs and Long-Term Strategies in African countries and to support projects already identified through ACCF’s Third Call for Proposals.”
Ireland and Austria join Germany, Italy, Flanders, Quebec, Canada, and Global Center on Adaptation as ACCF donors.
The AfDB established the ACCF in April 2014 with an initial contribution of € 4.725 million from the Government of Germany to support African countries in building their resilience to the negative impacts of climate change and transition to sustainable low-carbon growth. ACCF was converted to a Multi-donor Trust fund in 2017 with contributions from the Governments of Flanders, Belgium, and Italy. The current trust size is $28.8 million.
Since its inception in 2014, the ACCF Governing Committees have approved 27 grants for a total of USD $16.89 million. The Fund has completed 7 projects, and 1 project was canceled.
These approved projects support over 26 African countries via country and multinational projects to strengthen their capacities to access international climate finance, revision of NDCs, development of LTS, and implementation of small-scale adaptation projects to enhance resilience to the impacts of climate change.
The ACCF solicits projects through competitive calls for proposals and a demand-driven window. These new funds will be channeled via these windows.
ACCF has recently broadened its scope of activities to encompass the goals of the Glasgow Climate Pact, bringing it up to date with the latest climate adaptation and mitigation priorities.
For more information, contact Rita Effah, ACCF Coordinator r.effah@afdb.org
