Climate change: AFD commitments and initiatives

published on 01 October 2019
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AFD's Climate Commitments
Since 2015, banks and development agencies have been playing an increasingly significant role in helping governments make the transition towards low-carbon development, which is more resilient to climate change. On the heels of the United Nations climate change summit, we review the commitments undertaken by AFD and the tools deployed.
Climate change has been a priority for AFD since 2005. Today it is making sure its work is in line with climate change indicators. 
 
•    100% Paris Agreement

In the 2018-2022 strategy, The AFD Group has set out to become the leading "100% Paris Agreement" development institution. This means ensuring that its funding is entirely consistent with resilient, low-carbon development as defined by the Paris Agreement.  Since January 1, 2018, all AFD interventions are scrutinized on this basis – and some projects may even be called into question.


•    50% of projects offer benefits of climate change mitigation

Half of all AFD-funded projects, right across the spectrum, offer benefits of climate change mitigation. In 2018, AFD invested a total of €4.8 billion in foreign countries for commitments that mitigate the effects of climate change, with a total of €1.4 billion dedicated to adaptation.  
 

•    Encouraging alternatives to fossil fuels

In May 2019, AFD adopted a new energy transition strategy to support the growth of alternatives to fossil fuels. This will enable the Group to increase France's financial contribution to the International Solar Alliance (ISA) from €1 billion to €1.5 billion by 2022.  To meet our partners’ needs, these indicators and commitments require the implementation of innovative tools and initiatives.


•    The Adapt’Action program

Endowed with €30 million over 4 years, the Adapt'Action facility enables AFD and Expertise France to provide support to 15 countries and regional organizations that are especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change in the implementation of their adaptation strategies. Adapt’Action provides technical assistance and capacity building activities to consolidate climate change governance, better integrate adaptation in public policies and develop adaptation projects.
 

•    The 2050 Facility

This has been set up to finance the development of countries' pathways to low-carbon and resilient development through technical assistance and capacity building. The program is backed by €30 million over 4 years (2018-2022) to support some 20 of the most vulnerable and high-emitting countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. 


•    An initiative for the Pacific

At the 2017 One Planet Summit, AFD, in close collaboration with the European Commission, was tasked with launching a new initiative to support climate change adaptation and the protection of biodiversity in the Pacific small island states. In 2018, Australia, New Zealand and Canada joined this multi-donor initiative, which now has a total budget in excess of €30 million.

Set up and implemented in close collaboration with the Pacific Community (SPC), the Pacific Regional Environment Program (SPREP) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), it aims to improve access to funding for projects dedicated to the development of nature-based solutions in the South Pacific. 
 

•    Biodiversity Facility 

Endowed with €10 million and launched in spring 2019, it will support the following 16 countries in their efforts to honor their commitment to biodiversity: 

Burkina Faso, Senegal, Benin, Guinea, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Mozambique, Tunisia, Fiji, Madagascar, Vietnam, Guyana. 

This is part of the preparation for the Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) that will be held in fall 2020 in Kunming, China.
 

•    Solar Risk Mitigation Initiative 

AFD, in partnership with the World Bank, is encouraging the adoption of a global Solar Risk Mitigation Initiative (SRMI). This integrated approach helps find the best possible solutions to the political, technical and financial challenges associated with the increased deployment of solar energy, particularly in low-income countries.