Category: Climate Finance

A recent push by the African Union might see an African Credit Rating Agency established by early next year. Will this be enough to overcome the credit ratings challenges that have undermined the ability of African countries to access affordable climate finance?

At the 44th SADC Summit, the bloc grappled with how it would achieve its industrialisation goals whilst responding to climate change and related energy woes. Newly appointed SADC Chair, Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, underscored the centrality of renewable energy in this process, as the region looks to unlock opportunities in agro-processing and minerals beneficiation.

Given the US$ 1.2 billion chasm between the expectations of advanced and developing countries, Africa must find innovative ways to secure the necessary finance for climate action and development. Green bonds offer one means to do so. Nigeria is on a path to expanding its use of green bonds; however, it needs to do a lot more to increase the scale and success of these instruments. 

At the most recent meeting on the new climate finance target in Cartagena, countries redrew the same battle lines as last year’s loss and damage fund deliberations around who will pay, when, how much and for what actions. While there was some consensus on the framework for the text of the new goal, we are still very far from consensus on its substance.

We spoke with Nomasango Masiye Moyo, an attorney at Natural Justice, about the pending request for an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on liability for climate change and the relatively muted response by African governments.

Ahead of the upcoming climate finance meeting in Colombia this month, African countries have laid out an ambitious approach to the new collective quantified goal on climate finance, arguing for it to be based on the actual needs of countries and not just a political figure.

A recent UN Resolution to develop a global tax convention might stem illicit financial flows and create a more equitable and beneficial tax regime for Africa. The continent has long been championing these reforms, both to better its fiscal health and to enable domestic climate change responses.

At their annual meetings in Marrakesh this month, the World Bank and IMF agreed to some incremental reforms, including increasing IMF lending resources, representation for Africa on the IMF Executive Board, and quicker administrative processes for World Bank lending. However, little was achieved on debt reform or capital increases for the Bank.