Mahmoud Mohieldin: Africa is an important part of solving the climate crisis and overcoming its climate finance constraints is essential

Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, UN Climate Change High Level Champion for Egypt, UN Special Envoy on Financing 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and Chairman of GFANZ Africa Network Advisory Board, affirmed that Africa is an important part of solving the climate crisis, as the optimal use of its potential and resources will contribute to achieving the goals of climate action on regional and international levels.

Mohieldin told the newest issue of GFANZ Newsletter that Africa contributes less than 3% of global emissions, yet is disproportionately impacted by the global warming and climate change, and faces particularly severe climate-related challenges, including drought, desertification and increasing cyclones that lead to displacement, migration, and food crises, however, the continent is facing difficulties in financing climate action due to the increasing public debt, which is draining the financial resources of a large number of countries on the continent.

He stated that the Africa Climate Summit held in Nairobi last month formulated a positive vision for the future of the climate action in Africa, which has the youngest workforce and huge potential for renewable energy supplies, as well as the important natural resources including minerals, forests and mangroves, stressing the need to unleash finance to stimulate and optimally use this potential for the benefit of Africa and the whole world.

Mohieldin noted the keenness of GFANZ Africa network during the summit in stimulating private finance for climate action on the continent, and focusing on overcoming climate finance barriers by reducing debt, creating investable, bankable and implementable climate projects, de-risking climate investment, and activating carbon markets.

The climate champion stressed the critical importance of partnerships to mobilize finance for climate action in Africa and the whole world, expecting that the new partnership between GFANZ and the African Development Bank (AfDB) will help unite the efforts of development finance institutions and private sector, with a focus on supporting country platforms, providing technical support, contributing to capacity-building and activating innovative finance instruments.

Mohieldin explained, in this regard, that GFANZ Africa supports the JET-P in Senegal announced during the Nairobi Summit. The network also supports the national platform of NWFE in Egypt, which aims to implement climate and development action through promising projects in three important sectors: water, food and energy, with a main focus on the just transition to green economy.

“Pioneering projects in Africa need private finance and the GFANZ Africa Network is helping. In Nairobi, we hosted a financier-project owner matchmaking session with the Climate Champions and the Green Climate Fund. Our session in Nairobi featured investable projects such as Edison Phoenix, a first-mover in waste-energy in Lagos, Schonau Solar looking to export electricity from Namibia to South Africa, and Ampersand, which has announced closing a successful fundraising of $13 million to finance the expansion of its electric motorbikes fleet.” Mohieldin said.

Mohieldin stressed that Africa could become an important energy hub in the world if it gets the necessary finances and capabilities, saying that according to the International Energy Agency, Africa can provide the whole world with low-carbon energy at affordable prices in the form of hydrogen, which, if implemented its plans, can provide clean energy to about 600 million people on the continent living without electricity, and nearly one billion people do not have the means of clean cooking, Africa also has 60% of the best solar energy resources in the world, but in return it lacks the capability to generate this energy.

He added that Africa is also a home for biodiversity, with more than 20% of the world’s natural reserves, and can develop a bioeconomy and achieve many SDGs by 2030, such as creating jobs, improving health, achieving food security and generating wealth, but in return, the continent receives less than 3% of global climate finance, stressing that seizing these opportunities and protecting biodiversity and carbon sinks on the continent necessarily requires adequate funding.

In this regard, Mohieldin explained that GFANZ works with MDBs and other institutions to ensure improved public finance performance and mobilize private investment and finance, adding that the Alliance also supports the African Carbon Markets Initiative (ACMI) to contribute to enhancing the capacity of African countries to develop high-quality carbon projects and get a fair price for carbon.

Mohieldin said that many African countries are moving at a good pace towards achieving a just and equitable transition towards sustainable green economy, explaining that in 2022, during the International Cooperation Forum and Meeting of African Ministers of Finance, Economy and Environment in Egypt, the African ministers supported the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) work and called for early adoption of its Standards by African companies.

In this context, he stated that the GFANZ announcement of a partnership with the AfDB during the Nairobi Summit aimed to support African financial institutions in achieving the net-zero target with a focus on planning and financing green transition, and working with the ISSB and the UNEP-FI to support the adoption of standards of transparency and disclosure in climate action, contributing to the implementation of transformation plans across the continent.