The Africa Climate Change Fund, often known as the Fund or ACCF, is a multi-donor

trust fund A trust is a legal relationship in which the owner of property, or any transferable right, gives it to another to manage and use solely for the benefit of a designated person. In the English common law, the party who entrusts the property is k ...

that is specifically designed to support the

African Development Bank The African Development Bank Group (AfDB, also known as BAD in French) is a multilateral development finance institution, headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and ...

's (AfDB) efforts to finance

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

three times as much as possible while also advancing the bank's mission to create an

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

that is resilient to climate change. The ACCF wants to see more money raised for climate-related initiatives that consider how climate change is affecting African nations. As a result, the fund's purpose was to function as a catalyst for a variety of

low-carbon A low-carbon economy (LCE) is an economy which absorbs as much greenhouse gas as it emits. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions due to human activity are the dominant cause of observed climate change since the mid-20th century. There are many proven ...

and climate-resilient initiatives.

History

It was founded in April 2014 by the

with the goal of assisting African nations in strengthening their defenses against the adverse effects of climate change and making the transition to low-carbon, sustainable economy. Germany's international development organization, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ), provided the ACC with an initial donation of €4.725 million. The Ministry for the Environment, Land, and Sea,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, and the

Government of Flanders The Flemish Government ( ) is the executive branch of the Flemish Community and the Flemish Region of Belgium. It consists of a government cabinet, headed by the Minister-President and accountable to the Flemish Parliament, and the public adminis ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, joined the Fund in early 2017 and made it a multi-donor trust fund. In 2022,

Global Affairs Canada Global Affairs Canada (GAC; ; AMC)''Global Affairs Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (). is the department of the Government of Canada that ...

, the

Government of Quebec The Government of Quebec (, ) is the body responsible for the administration of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. The term is typically used to refer to the executive of the day (i.e. Minister of the Crown, mini ...

, and the Global Center for Adaptation,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, joined the fund. Over the course of its seven-year existence, the ACCF has demonstrated its efficacy as a climate finance instrument by providing funding to small-scale adaptation projects throughout

as well as climate finance preparatory efforts. It has aided in the implementation of regional, bank-implemented, civil society, and public sector initiatives.

Goals and outcomes

In order to help African nations meet the goals outlined in their National Determined Contributions (NDCs) and have access to climate funding, the ACCF is essential. In order to support sustainable development throughout the African continent, the Bank's climate funding will need to be strengthened by the financial contributions of Italy and Flanders as well as collaboration with other donors. With a total budget of US$3.3 million, ACCF is presently working on 8 projects, 2 of which are multi-regional and 6 of which are in the African nations of

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

Swaziland Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

Cape Verde Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

, Zanzibar (Tanzania), and Ivory Coast. The primary goal of the projects is to strengthen recipient governments' capacity-building efforts so that they can carry out a variety of initiatives and programs capable of drawing in international finance for climate change, such as that provided by the

Green Climate Fund The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is a Funding, fund for climate finance that was established within the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Considered the world's largest fund of its kind, GCF's objective ...

(GCF). Additionally, ACCF is working to increase the availability of climate information, foster greater knowledge sharing across recipient nations, and advance awareness of green finance through educational and training initiatives. African governments, NGOS, research facilities, regional organizations with an African base of operations, and Bank departments are among the direct recipients of the ACCF.

Those who benefit

Governments, NGOs, research institutes, and regional institutions in Africa are among the direct recipients of funding from ACCF. An indirect beneficiary of the fund could also be the Bank. A number of factors, including NGOs' and research organizations' credibility and financial governance results, will determine whether or not they qualify for financing from the ACCF. They must have an African base of operations, too.

Donors

There are five funders to the ACCF: the governments of

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

, and

. In order to assist over 16 African nations with their preparations for climate funding and the execution of small-scale adaptation initiatives, it has raised about $24.64 million from contributors.

Achievements

Since its founding, the Fund has authorized 27 grants totaling $16.89 million and completed seven projects that have assisted in increasing the ability of over 26 African nations to access international climate money. Additionally, through ACCF programs, nations have been able to increase climate resilience by implementing small-scale adaptation techniques and mobilizing climate funding.{{Cite web , date=2023-02-09 , title=Ireland and Austria join Africa Climate Change Fund as donors with an initial €3 million contribution - World {{! ReliefWeb , url=https://reliefweb.int/report/world/ireland-and-austria-join-africa-climate-change-fund-donors-initial-eu3-million-contribution , access-date=2024-07-11 , website=reliefweb.int , language=en

References

Investment funds Climate change in Africa Climate change finance