2021 Climate Adaptation Summit wraps up with focus on African irrigation
The 2021 Climate Adaptation Summit (CAS), hosted virtually by the Netherlands, will conclude today.
A key focus of this year’s summit is accelerating climate adaptation in Africa to combat droughts, food shortages and slowing economic growth.
Expect agricultural adaptation and climate finance to take centre stage in these talks. A key organisation represented at the summit is the Initiative for the Adaptation of African Agriculture (AAA), which aims to increase irrigation capabilities and water efficiency in arid and semi-arid areas. AAA will make a case for increased cooperation on regional irrigation systems.
The African Development Bank Group (ADBG) is also expected to speak regarding renewable energy and its role in reinvigorating African economies in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. A recent ADBG study called for 40% of future energy funding to be dedicated to renewable sources, so expect a call for regional unity in improving renewable energy capabilities.
The main obstacle standing in the way of attaining these goals is funding and regional unity, but with CAS participation from multiple regional governments as well as international financial institutions, including the World Bank and the World Resources Institute of Africa, concrete results are more likely than ever in the medium and long terms.
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