67 capacity is important, an aspect which successive evaluations and reports have identified as being key alongside stakeholder capacity, for example, in regional member countries (RMCs). The capacity of partners to apply for funds, deliver projects, and prepare financial reports is essential as well. With the above evaluation in mind, the following recommendations are made: • Climate change should be elevated within the Bank, fulfilling the its charter when it comes to sustainable development. Given the need for all finance to be eventually aligned with climate-resilient low-carbon development, and the fact that climate change complicates processes in the Bank, a question to consider going forward is whether the Bank should become the African Sustainable Development Bank, where climate change and sustainable development becomes a core part of every staff member’s work. This is consistent with the Bank’s updated charter which includes contributing to “...the sustainable economic development and social progress of its regional members individually and jointly”. • The Bank should establish a specialized unit on the quantification of climate resilience benefits and GHG emissions related to the Bank’s activities. Successive reports have highlighted the need for improved monitoring, evaluating, reporting, and learning systems. This is especially important when considering the complexity of understanding and reporting adaptation and mitigation contributions of projects. However, it is challenging to quantify GHG emissions and climate resilience for individual projects. It is far more challenging to quantify resilience and emissions for the many types of projects and activities that the Bank supports. This requires specialized expertise. This unit would be a goto resource for project developers, project managers, and others needing advice, tools, and estimates of GHG emissions and climate resilience levels. Enhancing the Bank’s capacity in this area will also strengthen the Bank’s position when negotiating international reporting standards with other multilateral development banks, and ensuring these standards are practical and meet African reporting needs. • The Bank should consider high-risk high reward business models, akin to venture capital, with the aim of generating climate-resilient lowcarbon development at scale. Given that radical changes and ambition are needed if the world is to fulfil the Paris Agreement, what risk is the Bank willing to take to find new business models and ways of achieving climateresilient low-carbon development? Are new business models required that take on high risk and high reward, akin to venture capital? These are important strategic questions that the Bank needs to consider. Focusing on low-risk climate-resilient lowcarbon development projects will not generate that change needed at scale to limit climate change and its impacts across RMCs. • Climate change, finance, and project management–related capacity development and mobilization in RMCs should become a continuous process involving training partners. This includes going beyond periodic training in the workplace to continuous training upstream, so people enter workplaces better equipped to apply for and use funds while also effectively managing projects. This may involve working with partners including universities and other education providers, as well as having online training materials available internally and externally. Introduction to the Second Climate Change Action Plan Introduction Surveys show climate action is a low priority in Africa (Custer et al. 2018). Meanwhile the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessments show climate change impacts on people, property, and livelihoods have only recently become detectable, but we are at an inflection point where the risk of impacts will soon be moderate to high. In short, the climate crisis is a “crisis of response” that risks becoming a “crisis of impacts” (Webb 2021). So how do we limit the risk of climate change while fulfilling immediate development priorities? The African Development Bank Group has taken on this challenge. Article 1 of its updated charter states that it should “contribute to the sustainable economic development and social progress of its regional members individually and jointly” (see Annex 1 for more information on the Charter and climate change). Climate change poses a strategic risk to development and social progress. Therefore, the Bank has implemented its First and Second Climate Change Action Plans (CCAP1 and CCAP2) and is in the process of establishing its Third Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP3). CCAP1 addressed the period 2011–2015 and CCAP2 addresses the period 2016–2021.1 CCAP2 builds on CCAP1, providing a strategic framework for climate action, while also highlighting opportunities for collaboration with Green growth in Africa — current initiatives and future developments
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