The poorest African countries that are mostly affected by climate change have been promised £200 million in financial support by the United Kingdom.

Speaking alongside African leaders at COP27 in Egypt, the British Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, said the UK will provide the funding to the African Development Bank’s Climate Action Window.

The Climate Action Window is a new mechanism set up by the bank to channel climate finance to help vulnerable countries adapt to the impacts of climate change.

SDG 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Africa is one of the most vulnerable continents in the world to climate change.

A report from the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) reveals that water stress and hazards like withering droughts and devastating floods are hitting hard on African communities, economies and ecosystems.

WMO also noted in the report that rainfall patterns are disrupted, glaciers are disappearing and key lakes are shrinking.

A number of countries in Africa have experienced extreme weather conditions from severe drought in Somalia to floods in South Sudan.

‘Climate change is having a devastating impact on some of the poorest countries in sub-Saharan Africa but historically they have received a tiny proportion of climate finance’, Cleverly said.

‘This new mechanism from the African Development Bank will see vital funds delivered to those most affected by the impacts of climate change, much more quickly’.

Climate change has a disproportionate impact on the 37 poorest and least creditworthy countries in Africa.

Nine out of ten most vulnerable countries to climate change are in Africa.

The Glasgow Climate Pact included a commitment from donors to double adaptation finance between 2019 and 2025.

AfDB president, Akinwumi Adesina, while applauding the additional funding from the United Kingdom, said the funding package will be 100 percent earmarked for adaptation.

Photo source: AfDB