The World Bank on Tuesday unveiled a new plan that calls for 16 billion U.S. dollars to help African countries adapt to climate change.
“The consequences of climate change for Africa are devastating and threaten to push millions of people into extreme poverty by 2030, largely due to lower crop yields and higher food prices, and negative health impacts,” said Benoit Bosquet, World Bank Practice Manager in the Environment & Natural Resources Global Practice in a news release.
According to World Bank, the new blueprint, Accelerating Climate-Resilient and Low-Carbon Development: The Africa Climate Business Plan aims to both bring attention to and accelerate resource mobilization for priority climate-resilient and low-carbon initiatives in the region.
According to the plan, the region requires five to 10 billion dollars per year to adapt to global warming of two degrees centigrade.
The plan estimates that the near to medium term implementation will cost about $16.1 billion to be raised by 2020, $5.7 billion of which is expected to come from the International Development Association (IDA).
The rest of the money will come from various climate finance instruments, development community, private sector and domestic sources.
“The Africa Climate Business Plan spells out a clear path to invest in the continent’s urgent climate needs and to fast-track the required climate finance to ensure millions of people are protected from sliding into extreme poverty,” said Makhtar Diop, World Bank Group Vice President for Africa.