Adaptation Finance
The economic case for investing in climate adaptation is strong. Benefit-cost ratios range from 2:1 to 10:1. Yet, money is not flowing at the pace or scale needed and there is a need to shift the way investment decisions are made to account for climate risks, scaling up and deploying public finance more effectively, scaling disaster risk finance and insurance, as well as harnessing private capital for resilience.
Our Adaptation Finance Program builds the capacity of vulnerable countries to drive adaptation at a much greater scale by planning differently and accessing the key sources of adaptation finance through its business lines:
Contact Information
For more information on this program, or to get involved, please contact:
Mosleh Uddin
Senior Program Officer, Climate Finance
mosleh.uddin@gca.org
Goal for 2025
Increase financial flows for Adaptation and Resilience to the African continent by more than US$ 5 billion between 2021 and 2025
The Technical Assistance Program (TAP) aims to reduce barriers to large-scale access to multilateral climate funds in Africa and significantly increase the flow of adaptation finance to the region.
The TAP tackles the main barriers faced by African countries in accessing adaptation finance at scale. These include significant gaps in adaptation planning and decision-making, poor technical capacities for adaptation project development and implementation, and a lack of valorization of the groundbreaking direct access modality.
The TAP has three inter-related components:
- Building capacities for adaptation finance planning and decision-making to lay the groundwork for a long-term partnership for adaptation finance mobilization and implementation
- Strengthening direct access by facilitating new accreditations and supporting the upgrade of existing National Implementing Entities (NIEs) while ensuring complementarity with the international access modality
- Promoting inter-sectoral, large-scale, and transformational adaptation projects and programs through inclusive consultative processes aligned with national and regional priorities
GCA works to increase the supply of adaptation finance by engaging and mobilizing domestic and international public and private sources. By leveraging the offering and adoption of adaptation-focused financial instruments, finance is mobilized from institutional investors in international and domestic markets, enabling investment into adaptation projects and initiatives. GCA offers technical assistance for structuring blended finance and capital market solutions such as green bonds, private debt, and equity funds or adopting adaptation taxonomy for traditional green lines of credit.
GCA is transforming the financial sector architecture to take action on climate risk to ensure financial stability. GCA builds transformation pathways that represent the essential leadership, knowledge, and financing programs that financial stakeholders need to ensure climate-resilient and sustainable financial systems.
In line with its role as a solutions broker, GCA supports the Africa Financial Alliance on Climate Change (AFAC), and the Adaptation and Resilient Investment Collaborative.
Through the AFAC, GCA is working at three levels to enhance the role of the financial system in Africa to mobilize capital for climate-responsive investments:
- IFIs, to ensure that financial sector investment projects include a focus on adaptation
- The public sector, to stress test key economic sectors and develop policy solutions for adaptation finance
- The private sector to climate stress test investment portfolios and to identify measures to address climate risk
News
Blog
Technical and Whitepapers
State and Trends in Climate Adaptation Finance 2024
This report covers global status and trends of adaptation finance and provides a deeper analysis of Africa at a regional level, given the heightened adaptation needs and opportunities on the continent. Across the globe, and especially in Africa, climate smart and resilient development pathways offer enormous investment opportunities with a triple dividend of avoided losses, positive economic gains, and enhanced social and environmental benefits.
Accelerating Adaptation Finance – Africa and Global Perspectives
In the context of the Africa Climate Summit, this policy brief highlights the need to dramatically increase the amount and efficacy of adaptation financing to Africa. This brief also spotlights the persistent challenges related to adaptation finance flows in Africa, and highlights priority actions for the global finance community to undertake to address them.
Strategy and Planning to Redouble Adaptation in Africa: A Review
This study provides a detailed review of the national strategic adaptation documents prepared by governments in the African continent. It examines the main characteristics of these strategic adaptation plans, their depth and coverage, and the degree to which these documents demonstrate a supportive environment to implement the most critical adaptation programs at scale for each country.
Videos
Past Events
GCA-GCF Workshop: A Step-by-Step Methodology for Originating a Pipeline of Project Concepts for Climate Resilience
13 November 2023
Windhoek, Namibia
Training on Adaptation Finance: Enabling Direct Access to the Green Climate Fund in Bangladesh
5 November 2023
Pan Pacific Sonargaon, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Mobilizing Africa’s Financial Sector for Low-carbon and Climate-resilient Development
6 September 2023
Villa Rosa Kempinski Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya (Hybrid)
Webinar: How is the African insurance industry responding to climate change?
6 June 2023
Global
Webinar: How are African banks coping with Climate Change?
16 May 2023
Global
Webinar: Climate Change: What does it mean for the Financial Sector in Africa?
9 May 2023
Global
African Financial Alliance on Climate Change (AFAC) Stakeholder Consultative Dialogue
11 November 2022
Africa Pavilion, Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt
Bridging the Adaptation Finance Gap: Innovative Financing Mechanisms to Attract the Private Sector
9 November 2022
MDB Pavilion, Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt
Regulatory state and private sector initiatives on climate risks in the African financial sector
10 November 2021
Africa Pavilion (Glasgow, UK)
Green Bonds for Climate Resilience: Unlocking Trillions for a Resilient Future
9 September 2021
Global
Contact Information
For more information on this program, or to get involved, please contact:
Ali Haider
Senior Climate Finance Specialist
ali.haider@gca.org