Ireland and Austria join the Africa Climate Change Fund as donors with an initial contribution of €3 million | African Development Bank

Ireland and Austria have joined the African Development Bank’s Africa Climate Change Fund (ACCF) with contributions of €2 million and €1 million respectively to support the Fund’s work.

The ACCF is a multi-donor trust fund that supports the African Development Bank Group’s goal of tripling its climate finance and increasing Africa’s climate resilience.

Harald Waiglein, Director General of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance, expressed his country’s commitment to tackling climate change with a strong focus on adaptation.

In a letter to the Bank, Waiglein said: “The Federal Ministry of Finance of Austria has decided to contribute to the ACCF in support of Africa NDC Hub activities, including the development and updating of nationally determined contributions and long-term climate strategies of African countries. ”

“We see these strategies as essential to combating climate change and promoting sustainable development,” he added.

Sean Fleming, Ireland’s Minister for International Development and Diaspora, said: “Ireland is committed to supporting communities across Africa in coping with the impacts of climate change.”

Fleming said a focus on adaptation and support for African countries remains at the core of Ireland’s commitment to climate action. He added that Ireland plans to 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 towards a climate resilient Africa,” said Fleming.

Professor Anthony Nyong, director of climate change and green growth at the African Development Bank welcomed Ireland and Austria as donors to ACCF.

“These new funds 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,” said Nyong.

The countries joined the fund at the end of 2022, bringing the number of current two donors to seven. The other donors are the government of Italy; the Flemish government (Belgium); the Government of Quebec (Canada); Global Business Canada; and the Global Center on Adaptation.

The African Development Bank established the Africa Climate Change Fund in April 2014 with initial funding of €4.725 million from Germany. Its mission is to support African countries in building their resilience to the negative impacts of climate change and in the transition to sustainable low-carbon growth.

In 2017, the ACCF was converted into a multi-donor trust fund with contributions from the governments of Flanders, Belgium and Italy. The current value of the trust fund is $28.8 million.

Since its inception, the fund has approved 27 grants worth $16.89 million and completed seven projects that helped build capacity to access international climate finance in more than 26 African countries. ACCF projects have also enabled countries to mobilize climate finance and implement small-scale adaptation strategies to increase climate resilience.

The ACCF supports projects through competitive calls for proposals and a demand-driven window. These new resources will be channeled through these counters.