REALITY CHECK

Africa: $250bn funding gap needed to meet Paris agreement, private sector can fill hole

By Musinguzi Blanshe

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Posted on October 4, 2022 16:53

 © Protestors gather outside court as a court case gets underway concerning South Africa’s failure to tackle toxic levels of air pollution produced by burning coal, in Pretoria, South Africa May 17, 2021. REUTERS/Tim Cocks
Protestors gather outside court as a court case gets underway concerning South Africa’s failure to tackle toxic levels of air pollution produced by burning coal, in Pretoria, South Africa May 17, 2021. REUTERS/Tim Cocks

With the world racing to achieve the Paris climate agreement target of reducing global emissions by 45% before 2030, Africa is in dire need of financing, a study by Climate Policy Initiative says.

The continent’s funding requirement is estimated at $250bn yet it receives about $29.5bn. Experts say countries should create a regulatory environment that can entice the private sector to fund their climate agendas.

The study figures are a computation from nationally determined contributions that countries across the continent have come up with to cut emissions and adapt to climate impact as well as inflows from international financial institutions and internally generated funding on the continent.

For every dollar invested in climate on the continent, 80 cents come from international financial institutions, 14 cents from the private sector and about 4 cents from governments across the continent, whose contributions are hard to track due to data shortage.

The study focused on regional financing, revealing that the Southern African region bears the largest financing gap in absolute

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