Africa Knowledge Exchange shares perspectives on protecting forests, promoting climate resilience and strengthening communities | African Development Bank

In March 2023, the Climate Investment Funds (CIF), the Government of Ivory Coast and the African Development Bank Group held a four-day event to share knowledge from 15 years of the fund’s interventions in Africa. The event focused on experiences from the Forest Investment Program and the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience. It also previewed CIF’s investment program for nature, people and climate.

The occasion brought together more than 200 CIF participants
recipient countries, contributing states, the private sector, civil society, local community groups and the Fund’s international partners.

Mafalda Duarte, Head of CIF, opened the event: “After about 15 years, CIF has learned a lot about what works in climate finance. We are a fund and a learning laboratory. Here in Ivory Coast, CIF and the African Development Bank are proud to bring countries together to share lessons and lay the groundwork for even greater impact.” She reiterated that CIF would continue to mobilize resources to support African countries.

Kevin Kariuki, Vice President of Energy, Power and Climate at the African Development Bank, said: “CIF was founded by MDBs and for MDBs and its member countries. As a financing mechanism providing concessional funds to support climate change projects, CIF is one of a kind and a partner of choice for the Bank and the African continent.”

Africa has contributed the least to global warming and has the lowest emissions, but is the most vulnerable to global warming impacts under all climate scenarios above 1.5 degrees Celsius. The CIF event highlighted the perspectives of African governments and donor countries on the urgent need to scale up climate finance, particularly for adaptation in Africa, and how the Fund can lead this process.

Commenting on efforts to reverse the dwindling forest cover of the Ivory Coast, currently estimated at 2.5 million hectares compared to 16 million in the 1960s, the Ivorian Minister of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Jean-Luc Assi, said: “Ivory Coast has applied for and obtained funding from the CIF to operationalize its strategies for forest management and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.” He added that CIF has provided $177 million for the first two phases of the Ivory Coast Forest Investment Program and the Dedicated Grant Mechanism.

To share knowledge and showcase innovations and results, the Africa Knowledge Exchange invited participants to a knowledge fair to learn about experiences implementing work related to sustainable forestry, climate resilience and indigenous peoples and local communities through the CIF projects over the past 15 years. The knowledge fair featured exhibits from seven African countries – Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Niger, Republic of Congo and Zambia – as well as the African Development Bank and the CIF.

Sessions were dedicated to International Women’s Day 2023, focusing on women’s social inclusion and leadership. Women are leading climate action and activism on the front lines. Climate finance in Africa is essential for supporting climate entrepreneurship among women and youth to scale up interventions that drive climate action in local communities. Women’s climate leadership requires interconnected approaches to ensure their empowerment and influence in decision-making processes, participants heard.

“The African continent needs it, and the world needs it. Climate finance should reach those most in need and the people on the ground. It’s not hard, and the proof is that CIF was daring,” said Cécile Bibiane Ndjebet, founder and president of the African Women’s Network for Community Management of Forests. She is the recipient of the 2022 Wangari Maathai Forest Champions Award and UNEP Champion of the Earth.

The participants also visited an energy wood production site in Ahua, Dimbokro department, developed by the

MALEBI Association, an Ivorian women-led organization that produces and sells sustainable charcoal.

The event provided a platform to discuss the main challenges for a just transition in Africa. The transition to a green economy will create new economic and social development opportunities, but will also bring new risks and losses. How these risks and opportunities are mitigated and distributed across different populations and regions will determine whether the transition to a low-carbon and resilient economy is just.

• Click here for photos of the event.
• Click here to visit the virtual knowledge fair
• Click here to read the African Development Bank’s Just Transition initiative.
• Click here to read the African Development Bank’s 2022 CIF Annual Report.