World Bank gives $22.5 billion to Africa to fight climate-related issues

Washington, March 28: Apart from $200 billion it had pledged towards fighting climate change, the World Bank (WB) has committed $22.5 billion as support to Africa in relation to climate-related projects. The funding will be done between 2021-2025.

According to a report in Good News Network, the funding more than doubles the WB's commitment to climate-related projects over the last five years. It is part of the group's 2025 Targets to Set Up Climate Action that they launched last December.

"This announcement comes in tandem to the United Nations' third One Planet Summit (OPS) earlier this month. The summit brought together international government leaders and representatives from the private sector, including entrepreneurs, donors, organizations and other global stakeholders to discuss collaboration on climate action," the GNN report added.

Following the unveiling of the most recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change, the WB, along with the international summit leaders, view 2019 as the pivotal year to plan accelerated action on climate change and this year's summit narrowed the focus further on stepping up climate action in Africa.

The WB is currently collaborating directly with eight nations - Rwanda, Mali, Namibia, Uganda, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Cote d'Ivoire and Kenya on climate adaptation and mitigation, the report added.

The additional funding from the banking organisation builds upon its current African Climate Business Plan which has financed over 176 conservational projects throughout the continent and become a critical support mechanism for countries to institutionalise climate action.