The African Risk Capacity (ARC) Group has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) to help facilitate investments into the risk management of government planning and high-level advocacy.
Aimed at building a more climate resilient agriculture sector, the MoU will be supported by a joint assessment of the landscape and subsequent development of risk transfer instruments and other instruments capable of enhancing African countries’ participation in ARC Disaster Risk Pools.
Under the MoU, both institutions have agreed to jointly engage in the high-level advocacy and facilitation of dialogues to ensure stakeholders can access the best disaster risk financing practice and instruments.
The agreement also targets collaboration in policy influencing activities to align the African financial sector with climate change commitments at the national and global levels.
This effort will include mainstreaming the inclusion of climate resilience among African financial insurance regulators as well as knowledge generation and dissemination to strengthen disaster risk mitigation initiatives at all levels.
“There is a five-to-tenfold gap between the financial resources currently devoted to climate adaptation and the adaptation needs in developing countries,” said Patrick Verkooijen, CEO of GCA.
“More private -sector investment and new financial instruments are needed to help vulnerable communities withstand accelerating climate impacts.
“Through this partnership our Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program will work to ensure we can adapt at scale across the continent and provide the support that is so desperately needed by those living on the frontline of our climate emergency.”
“Achieving climate resilience in Africa demands smart partnerships and purposeful alignment among like-minded agencies”, said UN-ASG Ibrahima Cheikh Diong, Director-General of the ARC Group.
“We are confident that the collaboration with GCA will be a strong enabler to ensuring that we maintain a solution-oriented approach in assisting our members with the innovative tools, capacity building, and financial resources they need for an anticipatory response to natural disaster risks”, added Diong.
