The purpose of the center is to provide Africa with the necessary flexibility and adaptation capacity to enhance its development sectors in a meaningful and sustainable manner
Egypt to host and establish the African Center of Excellence for Resilience and Adaptation to the Impacts of Climate Change in cooperation with the African union development agency (AUDA-NEPAD), this came on the sidelines of COP28.
The purpose of the center is to provide Africa with the necessary flexibility and adaptation capacity to enhance its development sectors in a meaningful and sustainable manner.
The agreement signed by the Minister of Environment, Yasmine Fouad, and the CEO of AUDA-NEPAD, Nardos Bekele.
Egypt’s hosting of the center comes within Egypt’s presidency of the African Union as an initiative to strengthen African adaptation efforts, environment minister stated.
In addition to that, recent discussions between President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and the CEO of AUDA-NEPAD took place on the establishment of the center to support AU Member States in fulfilling the commitments made by African governments to achieve the AU Agenda 2063.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), about 1.3 billion Africans need to adapt to climate change by 2030. Additionally, this number is expected to rise to 3.2 billion by 2050.
UNEP's Adaptation Gap Report 2022 indicated that adaptation financing needs in Africa for the period from 2021 to 2030 are estimated at approximately $50 billion annually.
A recent report by the Climate Policy Initiative and the Global Center for Adaptation shows that an annual average of $29.5 billion in climate finance was committed to Africa in the years 2019 and 2020.
The UN Economic Commission for Africa's analysis reveals a significant challenge in meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Africa needs an annual investment of USD 1.3 trillion, but the continent falls short with trade and grant aid revenue, resulting in a substantial annual deficit of USD 200 billion.
Recently, Fouad added that Egypt's top priorities during COP28 is the implementation of the recommendations that emerged from the COP27. This includes establishing and activating the Loss and Damage Fund, which aims to secure contributions from G20 countries, G7 countries, and other developed nations.
