By Ashvin Ramasamy
Day 1 of the workshop began with a panel introduction by ASCENT, IFAD as well as representatives from the Ministry of Environment and Agriculture of Senegal. Dr. Bakary Kante of ASCENT recounted how post-discussion of a past NDA GCF event in Mali later gave birth to the IFAD-NDA partnership. The Senegalese authorities reiterated commitment to climate change action and the call for climate finance to support agriculture. The Ministry of Agriculture commended the initiatives supported by global climate finance for resilient agriculture in Africa, after which attendees viewed a succinct video montage on climate finance in the agricultural sector. The theme stressed the contribution of GHG emissions from farming but also the effects of climate change on soil, species, pest and disease — all of which have varying levels of impacts on agriculture development. The Climate Policy Initiative made a presentation on the environment and climate finance landscape, analysing climate finance flows over recent years. Emphasis was placed on the comparatively small allocation to adaptation versus the predominant mitigation share. Tellingly, CPI finds that US $1.6 trillion of global climate finance is needed to limit global warming at the 1.5 C level by 2100.
Mr. Zeph Kivungi of ASCENT provided a condensed review of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) of Western and Central Africa countries. Adaptation for agriculture and mitigation trajectories at the country level figured prominently. In a separate discussion, ASCENT painted the picture on the high level of dependence on which the population in WCA depends. He put into perspective agriculture patterns, the state of renewable energy, and the role of climate finance in closing resource gaps in agriculture planning. The Global Innovation Lab (GIB) for Climate Finance was presented by Future Africa. The GIB is a public private partnership leveraging private sector funding. The initiative mobilized 41 financial instruments amounting to US $2B, of which private funding contributed US $800M. Future Africa pledges to climate adaptation for Africa, including compliance with the climate requirements of the UNFCCC.
The representative from IFAD, Mr. Amath Sene, presented the organization business plan on climate finance and resilience for WCA. The IFAD approach focuses on resource mobilization and allocation, resource utilization and transformation. Mr. Sene also briefed the audience on the understanding of the IFAD partnership with individual countries. Before the closing session, the Green Climate Fund explained in comprehensive fashion the functions of the donor organization as well as its modus operandi for funding country and regional initiatives. The workgroup session allowed NDAs to deliberate among themselves for optimizing the IFAD Country Pipeline against national level priorities figuring highly on agricultural and rural development agendas.