STRATEGIC CLIMATE INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIP ROUNDTABLE 1 9 T H - 2 0 T H J U N E 2 0 2 3 Towards Implementing the AU’s Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) INTRA-ACP GCCA+ PROGRAMME An initiative of the ACP Group of States funded by the European Union’s European Development Fund Joseph Ng’ang’a CEO, Africa Climate Summit, 2023 This time, it is not others telling Africa what they have to do. It is Africa inviting the world and saying we have this, this and this. We can do this and this - and together address the climate challenge. This will happen as we put African action on the climate agenda at the Africa Climate Summit.” “ TABLE OF CONTENTS ACRONYMS 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3 Objectives and approach of the Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable 4 Opening Remarks 5 • Thomas Huyghebaert, Head of Policy and Cooperation, European Commission • Alexander Skommer Larsen Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Denmark in Addis Ababa • Nyambe Harsen Nyambe, Director: SEBE, African Union Commission DAY 1 9 Overview of the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy 9 Contribution on linking to the COP28 agenda and key alignment opportunities by the United Arab Emirates Delegation 11 Contribution on Strategy implementation by the African Climate Policy Centre 12 Operational roadmap of the Strategy and key engagement areas 13 Contribution on a critical alignment opportunity by the Disaster Risk Management Department, World Bank 20 Overview of the Strategy’s key priority areas and intervention axes and actions 21 Contribution on capacity gaps by the Manager for the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub 30 Contribution by the Financial Markets Development Agency 31 Contribution on the ACS by the Host Delegation 32 DAY 1 35 Contribution by the Acting Deputy Chief of the United States of America (USA) Mission to the African Union 35 Contribution by the United States Special Envoy for Global Food Security 36 Contribution by the Department Director for the Climate Champions 38 Contribution by the Senior Adviser and Africa Lead from the Global Centre for Climate Mobility/Africa Climate Mobility Initiative 41 Contribution by the African Climate Foundation 45 Programme development towards implementation of the Strategy 48 Discussion on current partners’ initiatives, pledges and contributions to the Strategy 53 Suggestions on next steps 61 CLIMATE INVESTMENT ROUNDTABLE PARTICIPANTS 62 III Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) AAI African Adaptation Initiative ACBF Africa Capacity Building Foundation ACF African Climate Foundation ACMI Africa Climate Mobility Initiative ACS Africa Climate Summit AfCFTA African Continental Free Trade Area AfDB African Development Bank AGN African Group of Negotiators AICCRA Accelerating the Impact of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa AU African Union AUC African Union Commission AUDA- NEPAD African Union Development Agency – New Partnership for Development CAADP Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme CBD Conference on Biological Diversity CEO Chief Executive Officer CIFF Children’s Investment Fund Foundation COP Conference of the Parties EAFF East African Farmers Federation ESG Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance EU European Union FSD Financial Sector Deepening GCF Green Climate Fund GGGI Great Green Growth Institute GGW Great Green Wall GIZ German Agency for International Cooperation GRAP Green Recovery Action Plan GWP Global Water Partnership ILRI International Livestock Research Institute MDB Multilateral Development Bank NAP National Adaptation Plan NDA National Designated Authority NDC Nationally Determined Contribution PREPARE President’s Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience RECs Regional Economic Communities SADC Southern African Development Community SAIIA South African Institute of International Affairs SDG Sustainable Development Goal SEBE Department of Sustainable Environment and Blue Economy STC Specialised Technical Committee TEI Team Europe Initiative UK United Kingdom UN United Nations UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNECA United Nations Economic Commission for Africa UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change USA United States of America WEDO Women’s Environment and Development Organization ACRONYMS 1 Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) 2 Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) The African Union Commission (AUC) hosted the Strategic Climate Investment Partnership roundtable from 19-20 June 2023 at the African Union (AU) Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This roundtable, attended by key development partners, financial organisations, technical bodies, the private sector, and other institutions, was organised to leverage partnerships and align investment opportunities to support the operationalisation of the African Union Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032). This event promoted interactive brainstorming and strategic planning, and catalysed investment opportunities and partnership alignment to support the key needs, intervention axes and priorities of the Strategy. The roundtable provided an opportunity for key actors to strategize a collective approach to bring cohesion between the different climate change efforts on the continent and co-ordinate multi-stakeholder partnerships. The AU roundtable helped to coordinate and enhance implementation by stimulating the necessary actions on the ground. This roundtable served as a critical milestone towards the African Climate Summit (ACS). In addition, the roadmap and outcome of this roundtable will be accompanied by formal ‘pledging’ announcements that will take place within a dedicated investment session before the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28). EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3 Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) https://au.int/sites/default/files/documents/42276-doc-CC_Strategy_and_Action_Plan_2022-2032_23_06_22_ENGLISH-compressed.pdf https://au.int/sites/default/files/documents/42276-doc-CC_Strategy_and_Action_Plan_2022-2032_23_06_22_ENGLISH-compressed.pdf https://au.int/sites/default/files/documents/42276-doc-CC_Strategy_and_Action_Plan_2022-2032_23_06_22_ENGLISH-compressed.pdf The roundtable had three intended outcomes: Interactive brainstorming and strategic planning to catalyze investment opportunities that support the needs, intervention axes and priorities of the Strategy. Bring together key actors to strategize a collective approach that brings better alignment between different climate efforts on the continent and coordinates these under the strategic direction and priority intervention areas of the Strategy. Develop a roadmap for the implementation of the Strategy and match these with areas of support and alignment, and map commitments and pledges from partners. 1 2 3 The African Union Commission (AUC) hosted the Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable (the roundtable) from 19-20 June 2023 at the African Union (AU) Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This roundtable, attended by key development partners, financial organisations, technical bodies, the private sector, and other institutions, was organised to leverage partnerships and align investment opportunities to support the operationalisation of the African Union Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) (the Strategy). The key objectives of the roundtable were to: • Convene key actors to strategize a collective approach to bring cohesion between the different cliamte change efforts on the continent. • Coordinate these under the strategic direction and priority intervention areas of African Union’s Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032). • Translate the commitments and priority areas outlined in the Strategy into tangible and meainingful actions. • Stimulate strategic consolidation and scaling of investment pipelines as well as implementation coordination. OBJECTIVES AND APPROACH OF THE STRATEGIC CLIMATE INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIP ROUNDTABLE 4 Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) The roundtable was conducted according to four key principles: Multistakeholder approach – Diverse stakeholders were present at the roundtable including country delegations, regional delegations, farmer organizations, civil society, research partnerships etc. The need for a rich depth of participation and the establishment connections was emphasised. It was noted that plans and priorities need to be aligned for cohesion. It was recognised that there is considerable support behind the climate agenda and now there is a need to enhance coordination amongst partners. Highly interactive – The workshop programme was designed to be interactive, based on discussion and dialogue. Value all contributions – This principle was to recognize the value in all contributions and ideas from all stakeholder groups, from youth and women organizations, up to the ambassador level. Outcome focused – This recognized the need to remain outcome focused during the workshop. There has been a lot of momentum gathered in the lead up to the climate change summit and the roundtable was to be acknowledged as a critical step in the journey. 1 2 3 4 Sabrina Trautman AICCRA 5 Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) DAY 1: DAY 2: • Overview of the Strategy – To ensure all stakeholders involved in the Strategy were on the same page. • Alignment and coordination – To understand the strategic priorities of different investors and development partners and how best to link their efforts. • Key criteria for programme development – To understand the different dimensions as multiple partners work together to support the climate agenda. To draw upon the expertise in the room and the input from multiple partners to determine how to work more collaboratively and build stronger connections to iron out some of the flow. • Opportunities for partnerships and transformation – To determine how to formalize partnerships and understand the roles of different players. • Thematic working groups – To build on the expertise and interests in the room in terms of thematic priorities. This involved a deep dive into some of the thematic priority areas. • Co-developing a roadmap between now and the climate change summit – To determine how to take the discussions and the outcomes from the roundtable forward, and to formalise financing pledges and program and initiative development from some of the key thematic areas. The roundtable took place over two days, and was structured as follows: Structure of the roundtable 6 Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) Alexander Skommer Larsen Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Denmark in Addis Ababa Thank you to the AUC for hosting this workshop as a lead up to the first African Climate Summit (ACS) in September, which will be an important event to underline and cement African ownership and leadership to drive the global climate agenda. Allow me to also congratulate the AU on the adoption of the AU CCRD Strategy, which clearly highlights the commitment of Africa to tackle climate change and its consequences. Denmark is committed to doing the same alongside our African and global partners. In Denmark, we are trying to walk the talk and strive to be the global forerunner on global climate policy. We are committed to reducing our national emissions by Thank you to the AUC for convening this important meeting and bringing forward this dialogue on required action and support to operationalize the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy (CCRD) and Action Plan. The EU has been following and supporting the work on the Strategy from development to adoption, and we stand ready to also support the operationalisation and implementation of the Strategy. The AU Strategy is very comprehensive and covers a wide range of themes, including food systems, ecosystems, energy, and water. I am proud to confirm that the EU and AU already have a well-established partnership and close cooperation in most areas of the Strategy, helping us to deliver on the joint green transition commitments stemming from the latest EU-AU Summit of February 2022. During this AU summit the EU unveiled its Africa-EU global gateway investment package to support clean, smart, and secure infrastructure in the field of transport, digital climate and energy, education and research and health. The EU approach is to make connections and build strategic autonomy, combining hardware investments with software, regulatory and skills related work. And we are already delivering. Let me highlight a few areas where the EU-AU partnership in the context of the global gateway is already contributing to the realization of the objective set forwards in the AU CCDR Strategy. To address Africa energy challenges, the EU is currently supporting the AU in the progressive implementation of the African single electricity market’s full operationalisation by 2040 which will make it the largest single electricity market in the world, covering 55 countries and serving more than 1.3 billion people. In parallel, the EU is a key partner of Africa’s continental electricity master plan, where it is finalizing the preparation of bankable electricity interconnections projects to be financed through the global gateway. In the area of climate change, important progress was achieved with the launch of the Team Europe Initiative on climate change adaptation and resilience in Africa. This initiative will provide over 1 billion Euros to help our African partners respond to their adaptation needs and mitigate disaster risks. As we move forward with these and multiple other ongoing and upcoming initiatives, the EU will be mindful of the need to ensure continued consultation and coordination with all relevant partners. To maximize the impact of our support, these roundtable discussions today and tomorrow will provide a valuable contribution to these efforts. Thank you for your engagement and support in the transition of our economies and societies towards the greener and more sustainable future. OPENING REMARKS Thomas Huyghebaert Head of Policy and Cooperation, European Commission 7 Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) The AU CCRD Strategy was adopted in 2022 to cope with the impacts of climate change facing the continent, such as the decline in yields, which are resulting in food insecurity for the continent. These impacts are multiple and escalating and include a decline in crop yields, water scarsity, migration and many others. Africa has looked forward to the outcome of climate negotiations, but we feel that these have been unresponsive to addressing the needs of the continent, and for that reason our heads of States and government felt the need Africa to develop a framework that will facilitate our engagement within the continent, among various countries, as well as our engagement with the outside world and the negotiation process. For that reason, the CCRD Strategy was adopted. This Strategy is aimed at enabling us to realise Goal 7 of AU Agenda 2063, to achieve environmentally sustainable and climate resilient economies and communities. The adoption of the Strategy is not an achievement per se, but it is a means to an end, and we feel that the work has just started. It is for this reason that we have organized this gathering to be able to engage with yourselves, because we recognize that we cannot do it alone as a Commission, neither can our Member States do it alone. We need to build solid partnerships, such as with civil society organisations, financing organizations, 70% before 2030, and to reach climate neutrality by 2050. We aim at providing at least 1% of the US$ 100 billion target for climate financing and we will continue to push internationally for other countries to deliver on these shared promises to developing countries. Internationally, we work for a socially just green transition. With African partners we have several bilateral programmes focusing on climate change and adaptation. We have energy and water sector experts embedded in several of our embassies across the continent, working closely with their host country governments to increase competencies and to assist African countries in the delivery of goals, such as the integration of renewable energies into the grid, improving energy access, or improving access to clean water. international development corporations and so forth, so that collectively we can ensure that the Strategy is implemented. Moving forward there are a couple of steps that the AUC would like to address. Amongst them is to sensitize the African community regarding the goals and the aspirations that are contained in the Strategy, as to ensure broad based ownership. In addition to that, of course, is to attract investments in the priority areas. As we move forward, we are aware of several major events that are lined up. Amongst them, include the Summit for a New Global Financial Pact, taking place in Paris in early June 2023, where we can pick up the issue of investments within this Strategy. But further than that, we have also the Africa Climate Summit in September, and that will be an additional opportunity to attract investments as well as pronouncements to support the Strategy. I would like to encourage everybody to be able to make a valuable contributions during the next 2 days, and also just to recognize the support that we have received from various partners in the development of the Strategy, including the support from the EU that has enabled us to convene this meeting, as well as to recognize the technical support from AICCRA, who have also been behind us, especially in terms of preparation of documents. Through our infrastructure finance facility, we are providing financing and loans for large scale energy and water sector projects on the continent. Denmark has committed to more than half a billion US dollars across 4 projects in Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, and Uganda. Together with our AU partners we are working hard to put the finishing touches on multi-year support for the AUC on climate and environment, starting from 2024. Global climate action is also a key part in Denmark’s candidate for a seat at the UN Security Council for 2025-2026 and we are committed to promoting climate action and a just transition at all levels. We look forward to discussions today and look forward to working together with the AU leading up to the summit in September. Nyambe Harsen Nyambe Director: SEBE, African Union Commission 8 Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) DAY 01 Leah Wanambwa African Union Commission • The need for a common Strategy that covers all climatic and ecological regions, not defined by political boundaries, and a need for a continental response to coordinate the implementation of our actions as a region. • The initial request for a common Strategy was made in 2007, just before the Copenhagen Conference of the Parties (COP). Buy-in from all AU Member States was only achieved in 2022. • The Strategy provides an outline for harmonized and coordinated actions to respond to the impacts of climate change, thereby supporting and planning for Africa’s low-carbon future. • At the core of the Strategy, is the need to meet the 2 degrees temperature threshold (1.5 objective) and to achieve sustainable development as framed in the AU Agenda 2063, as well as the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Agenda 2030. • The Strategy supports the realisation of the AU’s development vision of Agenda 2063 to move toward ‘climate, resilient communities and economies are an integral component of the continental vision for an integrated, prosperous, and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens, representing a dynamic force in the international arena’. To support this vision, the Strategy sets out principles, priorities, and action areas for Africa to enhance climate cooperation and long- term climate resilient development planning. • The Strategy supports the commitments made by AU Member States and it considers existing national climate change efforts and aspirations of its 55 Member States, including the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and the long- term strategies. • Climate change is cross-cutting, and the Strategy is therefore aligned with the SDGs, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), UN Conference on Biological Diversity (CBD), as well as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. • The Strategy has a vision, a goal, four objectives, priority areas and actions, and is based on a few principles. • It is designed as a living document to keep pace with scientific and technological advancements, as well as scaled developments at different levels. It has a ten-year timeframe, and it is to be revised every five years. • The design and development of the Strategy was based on extensive participation involving a diverse array of stakeholders. • Despite COVID-19 restrictions, validation and input took place over several years and through a series of virtual and in-person meetings and events, as well as written input from experts. The roundtable began with an overview of the Strategy. Key points included: OVERVIEW OF THE AU CLIMATE CHANGE AND RESILIENT DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY 9 Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) Question and answer Question. East African Farmer Federation (EAFF): The European Union (EU) is one of our main training and business partners. The EU has recently adopted its Green Deal that clearly sets out the parameters for compliance with business partners outside of the EU (i.e. embedded emissions). Does Africa have a compact for doing business with the EU? Does the Strategy help to give Africans direction and ensure that external partners comply with standards so that we protect our position and our continent? How do African countries define the rules of the game? Are there tools and instruments in place to ensure that African farmers can do business in the interests of both continents? Answer. AUC: We must recognise that the AU and EU are at differing levels of regional integration. Many of the concerns you raise are being addressed within the framework of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). This is an important development that seeks to enhance trade amongst Africans, which is currently low. It is also imperative to ensure that mechanisms are in place to ensure African producers are protected from non-tariff barriers, which are also in existence between Africa and other continents, including the EU. However, when it comes to issues that relate to sustainable and resilient production, those are the issues that we are going to be addressing within this Strategy and in the Green Recovery Action Plan (GRAP). Both Strategies include key priority areas and programmes to address resilient agriculture and food systems. 10 Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) Spoke on key alignment opportunities and linking the Strategy to the COP28 agenda. He highlight- ed the UAE’s commitment to climate action, which is evident through its net zero by 2050 initiative and its various investments to boost the renewable energy sector. He stated that “the UAE consistently aims to promote private sector de- velopment; reduce dependence on hydrocarbon revenues; and place focus on advancing technol- ogy.” Similarly, the UAE launched a National Cli- mate Change Plan in 2017 and was one of the first Gulf countries to ratify and sign the Paris Accord in 2015 and has adopted policies and strategies aimed at improving air quality, improving water and food security, promoting low-carbon ener- gy, and conserving the UAE’s natural resources. Furthermore, it was stressed that UAE leadership recognizes that climate change is not solely an environmental challenge, rather it is also an eco- nomic issue. Hence, the UAE aspires to foster an inclusive approach that ensures both economic growth and energy access. The UAE places emphasis on leveraging their existing relationships in the continent and with the AU, including diplomatic, humanitarian, and development cooperation, to share its renewable energy expertise to advance economic and human development, and address key challenges that hinder access to clean and affordable energy in emerging markets. He concluded by stressing that “United on Climate Action Toward COP28 is the UAE’s stance highlighting the need for transformational partnerships and solidarity to drive climate action and to deliver on the actions agreed upon during COP 27, including partnerships between governments, as well as between private business and the public sector.” The participation of the Embassy in the roundtable demonstrates the UAE’s extensive efforts towards promoting sustainable environmental practices, promoting awareness, and developing plans to support green economy transitions in the international sphere. The UAE will be hosting the COP28 at the end of November 2023, in expo city in Dubai. This COP will highlight issues such as climate financing, energy transitions, partnerships, nature, land use and oceans, technology, and innovations, among others. The COP28 Presidency has been consulting with the diverse range of stakeholders to pinpoint the most important action areas that they would like the UAE to progress on, in a manner that will be inclusive, transparent, pragmatic, and results oriented. UAE has invested US$ 40 billion in green energy sources, with Abu Dhabi’s clean energy company Masdar being active in more than 40 countries with investments in projects worth more than US$ 30 billion. As part of its net- zero ambitions, the UAE plans to invest US$ 163 billion in clean and renewable energy sources over the next three decades. Regarding green financing and sustainability, the UAE places focus on institutional adoption, and innovation in markets, and creating investment opportunities in new economy sectors such as the space industry, renewable energy, and advanced technology. Finally, he noted that the UAE aims to leverage its existing relationships in the continent and with the AU, including diplomatic, humanitarian, and development cooperation, to share its renewable energy expertise to advance economic and human development, and address key challenges that hinder access to clean and affordable energy in emerging markets. CONTRIBUTION ON LINKING TO THE COP28 AGENDA AND KEY ALIGNMENT OPPORTUNITIES BY THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES DELEGATION * The potential for partnerships and collaboration is endless, including in regard to promoting sustainable environmental practices, promoting awareness, and developing plans for businesses to support green manufacturing, and climate technologies. Talal Al Azeezi Head of Political, Economic, and Media Affairs at the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Embassy in Addis Ababa 11 Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) Speakers addressed the need to discuss the specific arrangements that can be put in place to implement the Strategy and the importance of achieving the Strategy’s objectives. The need to recognise the ClimDev Africa Programme was emphasised, as it provides an important mechanism to implement the Strategy. CONTRIBUTION ON STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION BY THE AFRICAN CLIMATE POLICY CENTRE Dr James Murombedzi Africa Climate Policy Centre, UNECA Dr Linus Mofor Africa Climate Policy Centre, UNECA ClimDev Africa The ClimDev Africa programme, which was mandated in 2007 by the Assembly of the AU, has requested that the AUC, UNECA and the African Development Bank (AfDB) bring their respective capabilities to support countries in responding to climate change. This has been effective, particularly with the AUC leading the support of Member States in the implementation of that programme. The Special Fund at the AfDB has been supporting the investment in the production and uptake of climate information services in Member States and the regional climate centres, based on the policy direction set by the AUC and supported by the analytical work of the African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC) of UNECA, which also serves as the Secretariat of the ClimDev programme. Although it was mandated in 2007, it became fully operational in 2011, and has gone through a first phase. The institutions are currently working to develop the second phase of the business plan which is very comprehensive, and the idea is to have that as one of the main pillars for the implementation of the Strategy. UNECA is also in discussions with institutions about launching the second phase of the ClimDev Business Plan as part of the implementation arm of the Strategy at the upcoming African Climate Summit (ACS) at COP28. The role of various African continental actors The working model in Africa has always been that the AUC provides the political and policy direction and advocacy, supported by technical partners such as UNECA and the AfDB, with country-level implementation by the AU Development Agency-New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD), in collaboration with other regional entities, including the RECs. The AUC’s work focuses on policy development, which is informed by research provided by UNECA, hence its involvement in the development of the Strategy from the beginning. The AfDB finances these policy tools. The AUC leads coordination and harmonization of these policies, but also brings together the Member States due to the convening role that the AU has both at the Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change level (Heads of State) and through the Specialised Technical Committees (STC) (Ministerial) level. 12 Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) The operational roadmap of the Strategy and key engagement areas were presented. The need to support the implementation of Africa’s climate change priorities through robust investments and partnerships and transformative collaboration was emphasised. It was noted that the Strategy is the first collective climate action framework that sets out the key guiding principles, priorities, and intervention areas. The operational roadmap timelines are as follows: OPERATIONAL ROADMAP OF THE STRATEGY AND KEY ENGAGEMENT AREAS 9 November 2022 A dinner dialogue was convened on the margins of the UNFCCC COP27 in Egypt. This dialogue included AU member states, civil society organisations and bilateral partners, who pledged their support to implement the Strategy. This dialogue was organised in partnership with Google Africa and CGIAR. 8 November 2022 A COP27 panel discussion on how a new African strategy for climate action can make agriculture and food systems resilient. This event took place at the Food and Agriculture Pavilion and partnership with AICCRA. 27 October 2022 Panel Discussion on the Strategy during the Climate Change for Development in Africa Conference (CCDA-X) in Windhoek 17-19 October 2022 1st meeting of Experts and Partners in Kasane, Botswana, to discuss the key elements required to operationalise the Strategy. 27 June 2022 The Strategy was launched by Uhuru Kenyatta, President of the Republic of Kenya at the CAHOSCC meeting. 6 February 2022 AU-CCRDS was endorsed by the 35th Ordinary Session of the AU’s Assembly. 6-7 December 2022 Presentation and strategic planning with the EU delegation and member states. May 2023 Coordination and alignment of climate goals with Biodiversity Summit 2023 • Sensitization and strategic planning with Sweden and member country representatives in Africa. • Sensitization and planning with Disaster Risk Reduction colleagues. 13 Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) The outcomes of the f irst meeting of experts and partners on operationalizing the Strategy were given: • Establish systems for coordination • Develop monitoring, reporting and evaluation systems • Develop stakeholder engagement plan • Resource mobilisation plan • Communications plan • Gender equality and social inclusion action plan Institutions and different partners were welcomed to offer to lead and support in the development of project ideas under the systematic areas. It was noted that the Accelerating the Impact of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) programme is able to support on communications plans and the production of knowledge materials. For example, the water team at the AU, seconded from the Global Water Partnership, has adopted the water component of the Strategy and the AU had a meeting with the Green Climate Fund (GCF) Team to better understand how to develop proposals under that sector. The outcomes of the f irst meeting of experts and partners on operationalizing the Strategy were given: Sensitization and enhanced understanding of the Strategy’s key objectives and pillars. The identification of priority areas for implementation during the first 5 years of the strategy. Identification of institutions to lead and contribute to the development of program and project ideas under the key sectors and thematic areas identified. A clearer understanding of the process required for developing sectoral and regional programs to implement the strategy. The development of a roadmap for the operationalisation of the strategy. Clear goals for COP27 events and dissemination opportunities. 1 2 3 4 5 6 14 Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) A visualisation of the roadmap to operationalise the Strategy was presented. It illustrated key events and actions to take place between November 2022 and 2027. November 2022 Launch and showcase the Strategy at COP27 and other important climate events June 2023 Convene investment partners’ dialogue to explore and showcase program ideas and garner support 30 November-12 December 2023 Showcase progress at COP28 December – June 2023 Start to conceptualise program/project ideas climate events June – September 2023 Advance program/ project concept notes and funding proposals 2023-2027 Implement programs and project and organize regular partners’ dialogues October-September 2023 (and on-going) Outreach and sensitization through dialogue forums and the development of communication materials 22 June 2023 High level presentation at the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact, Paris September 2023 High level pledges and support to specific programs and projects at Climate Summit 2027 Conduct Mid- Term Review 15 Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) The next steps to operationalising the Strategy were given, including: Develop a compendium of program and project ideas following a standardized template to be developed by SEBE. Organise a partner’s dialogue platform to create a marketplace where program/ project ideas can be supported. Establish a coordination and management structure for the implementation of the strategy with a dedicated focal person from SEBE. Establish a coordination and management structure for the implementation of the strategy with a dedicated focal person from SEBE. Organize a sensitization session with member states and the RECs to enhance the understanding of how the strategy can complement their existing climate efforts. In addition, clarify the role of various actors in implementing the strategy. Continue engaging the experts and institutions to lead the program and proposal development of key priority areas. The role of the Sustainable Environment and Blue Economy (SEBE) Directorate in operationalising the Strategy was defined: • To provide strategic guidance to partners, especially in terms of defining priorities areas for implementation support. • To provide technical guidance in discussions with experts and partners related to the Strategy • Mobilising and coordinating partners for the implementation of the Strategy. • Coordination and management of the operationalisation of the Strategy, with a need to strengthen its capacity around program coordination and monitoring and evaluation. 16 Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) Sendai Framework for Distatster Reduction (DDR) Political Governance Agenda 2030 and SDG’s Paris Agreement AU Agenda 2063 Global Climate & Development Framework Enabling EnvironmentContinental Climate & Development Frameworks National Climate & Development Frameworks Regional Climate & Development Frameworks NDCs NAPs NAMAs AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy (AU-CCRDS) • AU Green Recovery Actions Plan • CAADP • AFR100 • Africa Renewable Energy Initiative • Great Green Wall • Africa Adaptation Initiative • ClimDev-Africa• Africa Blue Economy Strategy • Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa • African Continental Free Trade Area • Integrated African Strategy on Meteorology • African Youth Charter • The Hydromet Africa Programme • African Risk Capacity • Adaptation of African Agriculture ( AAAI) AU Summit CAHOSCC AMCEN AU Summit Next, partnerships were discussed and their importance in operationalising the Strategy. Partnerships are key to the effective implementation of the Strategy. Member States, development partners, civil society, the private sector and other stakeholders all have a role to play in the operationalisation of the Strategy, including the provision of technical and financial support. Collectively, we can achieve immense impact through co-design and joint implementation of projects and initiatives to support the Strategy’s objectives, thereby contributing to a sustainable, prosperous, equitable and climate-resilient Africa. The AUC stated the need for development partners to share the key messages of the Strategy with their ambassadors in their various missions. Both AU Member States and partners need to align with the objectives of the Strategy providing partnership and political support. 17 Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) Question and answer Question 1. What role is the African Development Bank playing in this arena? Is the AUC coordinating with them? Are they adopting the principles and the framework that has been set out by the Strategy? Question 2. How will projects and programmes be implemented? Will the AUC take the lead or will Member States, or third parties, be involved in the future implementation of activities? Answer. The AUC and the AfDB have engaged on several issues, but engagement has not been very effective in terms of getting the support that the AUC needs. For that reason, the AUC is progressing in terms of developing projects. Answer. The AUC is not planning to implement at the Member States level. The AUC’s main role is to coordinate actions and provide support to Member States, so that they can effectively implement projects and programmes at the country level. The Strategy will also help the AUC to bring collective action under one umbrella and to ensure that African actions are tracked and contribute to the collective climate goals. Member States have adopted the Strategy and they now need the AUC’s support to implement projects and make it operational. The AUC needs a plan first that includes key areas of interest and priority areas to guide the Member States. The AUC then needs to direct countries to work with others to achieve common ground, to pursue joint fundraising, and focus on priorities. Question 3. What plans are there to involve new partner countries, particularly those non- traditional countries that are engaged in African continent? Question 4. How will the AUC outreach to the AU Member States? Answer. The AUC put together a side event at COP27 that included a very different set of stakeholders. This included the active participation of YouTubers, doctors, and other non-traditional actors. This created a very different kind of setting and brought out a very interesting dimension to the process of implementation by Member States alone. At the moment we are working with many partners, but we intend to reach out to others who are not fully involved or participating within the climate field. Answer. The AUC develops policies and programmes, and for those programmes to be implemented, the AUC receives a mandate from Member States. There is often an issue of a division of labour as there are no clear-cut boundaries to where the mandate of the AU ends and where the mandate of others begins. For example, the AUC has programmes, even on the ground, to support Member States to develop policies. Under the Strategy and the GRAP, the AUC is mandated to develop programmes and work towards attracting resources to implement the Strategy. In this regard, the AUC works closely with Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and with AUDA-NEPAD to ensure the Strategy is co-implemented. The AUC has the responsibility to report to Member States and to the Summit in terms of how Member States are performing in each sector. The Strategy needs to be disseminated to everyone. Now it is a reference document for the political elite. Dissemination needs to take place at all levels, including the grassroot level actors. 18 Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) Question and answer Question 5. The Strategy covers multiple thematic areas and therefore is relevant to numerous AUC departments. How is the AUC ensuring internal coordination? Question 6. What plans does the AU have to help with the domestication and uptake of the climate framework? Question 7. Does SEBE have the resources necessary to perform the role of a coordinating body, to drive the Strategy to efficiently and effectively help your Member States? Answer. The departments which were involved in the development of the Strategy and the Political Office are responsible for internal coordination. Answer. The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) taught us many lessons about the domestication of national policies at the country level. The Strategy proposes actions for each thematic area. For example, for food systems, CAADP will help countries to implement the Strategy through alignment. Furthermore, the development of the Strategy involved representatives from other departments, for example, the infrastructure and energy departments were involved in developing the respective areas of the Strategy. Answer. The Commissioner has been reaching out to partners for additional support to SEBE in the form of staff secondments, as well as to enhance technical capacity to implement projects. The AUC is in the process of establishing the Climate Finance Unit within the Directorate. It already has a head of the unit appointed and the AUC is expecting, within the next two months, to have five to six staff employed within the unit. Some of the support has come from Canada and the United Kingdom (UK). We hope for further support from others. This unit and its team will render technical support to all departments within the Commission related to climate finance, as well as extend support to Member States. Question 8. How does the GRAP, which was also developed by the AUC and adopted by Member States, fit in with the different areas of the Strategy? Answer. GRAP is embedded in the Strategy. GRAP focuses specifically on Africa’s exit from COVID-19, but also addresses some of the issues that are covered under the Strategy. The AUC is implementing the two frameworks concurrently. 19 Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) Question and answer Question 9. What is the role of AU scale/ regional initiatives? Can these be seen as one of the vehicles within which implementation at the national level can then be achieved and enhanced? Answer. It terms of the AUC’s mandate, its primary focus is on the Member States, as well as RECs. Regional initiatives are also key, for example, the AUC is helping to coordinate the implementation of the Great Green Wall (GGW). In addition, we are rendering support to the three climate commissions and all other climate-related initiatives. The AUC wants to strengthen the coordination of these initiatives to talk more effectively to one another. The role of SEBE as the mandated department to coordinate climate change work on and within the continent includes: • Coordinate budgets for effective implementation; • Streamline and coordinate climate support from development partners; • Provide technical support on climate change; • Coordinate technical expertise; • Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) reporting; and • Harmonize, coordinate and report on the implementation of these actions. Over the past three to four years, there has been new thinking in terms of climate resilience to move into more regional projects. To initiate knowledge exchange it is key to have one voice in terms of climate finance. There is a new regional project that was recently approved by the World Bank, covering four countries and two regional organizations, Mozambique, Madagascar, Comoros, and South Sudan, Southern African Development Community (SADC) and NBI, respectively. It is a regional climate resilience project costing US$ 382 million. There is a second phase currently being developed, including Malawi and the AUC, for $US 260 million dollars. The idea is to have a series of operations to tackle climate change over a decade, investing more than a billion dollars in Southern and Eastern African. The AUC could play an important role in this. It would give the AUC the platform to operationalize the Strategy, as we see a lot of alignment. It would help countries to share knowledge, expertise and climate finance, early warning systems, hydroMET systems, large infrastructure management, transboundary water management and optimal asset management systems. The plan is for the AUC to come on board and for this project to be approved by December 2023 and potentially fill some of the gaps in terms of additional personnel to the AUC to operationalise the Strategy across Africa. CONTRIBUTION ON A CRITICAL ALIGNMENT OPPORTUNITY Yohannes Yemane Kesete Disaster Risk Manager Consultant, World Bank 20 Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) Romy Chevallier AICCRA Kidanemariam Tiruneh GWP The Strategy’s intervention axes, and key priorities areas were unpacked. OVERVIEW OF THE STRATEGY’S KEY PRIORITY AREAS AND INTERVENTION AXES AND ACTIONS 2. Adoption Pathways towards Transformative Climate Resilient Development 4. Leveraging Regional Flagship Initiatives 1. Strengthening Governance and Policy 3. Enhancing Means of Implementation towards Climate Resuilient Development BUILDING THE RESILIENCE OF AFRICAN COMMUNITIES, ECOSYSTEMS AND ECONOMIES, AND SUPPORTING REGIONAL ADAPTION. 21 Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) Strayegy’s Intervention Axes (4) and Areas (30) 2. Adoption Pathways towards Transformative Climate Resilient Development 4. Leveraging Regional Flagship Initiatives 1. Strengthening Governance and Policy 1. Enhanced climate policy, governance and institutional coordination 2. Coordinated regional climate action 3. Anticipatory governance and proactive, long-term planning 4. Increase uptake of climate information services 5. Improved climate literacy and awareness 6. Governance solutions to address the climate-conflict nexus 1. Food systems under a changing climate 2. Protecting land-based ecosystems 3. Enhancing climate-resilient and low carbon energy and infrustructural systems 4. Promoting low-carbon, resilient mobility abd transport systems 5. Inclusive, low-emissions and resource efficient industrialization 6. Building low-carbon, resilient urban areas 7. Enhancing resilient water systems 8. Building a climate-resilient African blue econonomy 9. Digital transformation 1. Enhanced finance flows and resource mobilixation 2. Safety mechanisms to reduce loss and damage 3. Equitable technology transfer and development 4. Inclusive participation, especially of gender and youth 5. Capacity development 1. Infratructure 2. Trade 3. Climate Information Services for adaption and resilience 4. Climate-resilient agricultyre 5. Enhancing access to reneable energy 6. Climate change risk management 7. A climate-resilient African blue economy 8. Accelerating adaption and building reslilience in Africa 9. Building on climate change capacity building programme 10. Capacity needs and gaps for climate research 3. Enhancing Means of Implementation towards Climate Resuilient Development BUILDING THE RESILIENCE OF AFRICAN COMMUNITIES, ECOSYSTEMS AND ECONOMIES, AND SUPPORTING REGIONAL ADAPTION. 22 Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) Group exercise • WEDO - Climate development and strategy involvement, gender inclusion, financing gender for women’s engagement, governance, representation and engagement in the UNFCCC policy process, building the capacity of women negotiators, and not only in gender, but also in at various thematic areas and technical capacity and capacity development. • EU – Bilateral cooperation on many areas in Strategy, including climate policy participation, sponsoring and financing of climate negotiators, including the African Group of Negotiators (AGN) and the facilitating meetings food systems, energy, transportation, water, and digital transformation, early warning systems on disaster risk coordination, Loss and damage, disaster risk management, and GGW expansion to SADC. • Climate champions, Africa team – Race to Zero, gender and youth participation in most of the climate discussions, almost all of axes 2 and 4. • UK Embassy – Green recovery plans, access to finance, Nairobi climate action, youth and women inclusion, COP processes, COP26 funds and strong focus on Africa, early warning systems (bilateral cooperation), reforming financial institutions, support the European Commission on carbon markets, Glasgow Pact, nature and biodiversity, transboundary work. • Embassy of Ireland – Axis 2 – child wasting. Study phase, climate and economic status. • Youth influencers - Involvement of youth and participation points, digital transformation, governance and policy development and capacity development. GROUP 2. Women’s Environment and Development Organisation (WEDO), climate champions Africa, UK, Embassy Ireland, EU, youth influencers GROUP 1. Canada, Netherlands, Global Water Partnership (GWP) and SAIIA • Canada – GRAP, governance and institutional strengthening, climate finance, African capacity building within RECs, ocean governance and gender. • Netherlands – Food security, investment in agricultural productivity, climate resilience and food systems, water management. • GWP - Continental Africa water Investment programmes, greater investments into the water systems, integrated climate resilient water investment programmes. • SAIIA - Capacity and governance and institutional strengthening, coastal resilience and the oceans- climate nexus. Youth, and just transition. The roundtable participants were divided into six groups and posed the following question: What are the focal areas and the strategic axes that are important to your vision as an entity, as an institution, as a development partner? Does the Strategy align with your current areas of priority? The following feedback was generated: 23 Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) • FSD: Has a lot of money available, but they need programmes and project proposals. • Recommendation: Need to document the existing initiatives, programmes and institutions that are already working in the different areas, to avoid the duplication of efforts. • Recommendation: Enhance communication across the board. • Recommendation: Additional support, including academic support for measurement, reporting, and verification. • ACF – Providing support in implementation capacity, just transition programmes and skills. • AICCRA - Supporting policies and countries in various ways developing documents to help turn their NDCs commitments in agriculture into bankable investments with Climate Smart Agriculture Investment Plans that also support other national strategic documents like the NDCs, Long-Term Strategies, helping countries coordinate around a technical working group for early warning systems and anticipatory action. • World Bank - Policy and governance with a focus on streamlining various sectoral policies to the climate change policies of countries, supporting and harmonizing country-level coordination focusing also on issues around transboundary coordination. • Denmark – Bilateral programmes embedding their capacity within other governments to share competencies in various sectors, including the energy sector, assistance in terms of helping fiscal incentives supporting, tariff reform in various countries. • United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) - Supporting the development of laws policies and supporting institutional strengthening, helping governments align their budgeting processes, private sector de- risking, climate promise programme which is helping countries build NDCs (46 countries in Africa), access to climate finance. • Recommendations: Strategy could align itself to assist countries with the implementation of their own national policies and frameworks. • Recommendation: Strengthening partnerships at the national level could be a specific focus in itself – supporting SDG 17 on partnerships, which is important to deliver a transformative climate, resilient development. • Recommendation: M&E frameworks for NDCs. GROUP 3. African Climate Foundation (ACF), World Bank, AICCRA, Denmark GROUP 4. Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) Africa, EAFF, Academia 2063, AUC 24 Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) • Kulthoum Motsumi: The African Adaptation Initiative (AAI) has four pillars that were identified through an analysis of the NDCS and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs): 1. common information services and infrastructure, 2. institutions and policies, 3. national level action as well as regional level action based on a common theme, 4. climate finance. • Recommendation for action to fill the African capacity gap. Support is needed for African countries to report on their NDCs and to compile a report on Africa’s collective efforts, progress, actions and needs. There are major capacity gaps in Africa, especially as 2025 and the GST approaches. • Recommendation to build robust institutional arrangements, structures or mechanisms, at different levels for the AUC to drive the implementation of the Strategy. The AUC will need these institutions for different aspects of coordination: 1. to provide policy guidance for both the national and regional institutions and a framework to assess progress, OTHER STRATEGY ALIGNMENT OPPPORTUNITIES AND RECOMMENDATIONS WERE HIGHLIGHTED BY PARTICIPANTS OF THE ROUNDTABLE • CIFF - Clean development pathways for Africa, specifically relating to clean energy aspects, resilience and low carbon energy infrastructure systems. Cities programme, resilient urban areas. • ILRI - Strategies for climate resilience, food and water systems. • CSO – Adoption of a food systems approach across agricultural systems. They are mainly promoting the adoption of agriculture within small-scale farming, and they are running an initiative on organic farming. • Commonwealth finance hub - International climate finance, technical support for design of countries and regions. • Recommendation: The role of the AUC is to share national frameworks, provide a level of guidance and to develop a community of practice. It plays a lead role in terms of coordination and monitoring. GROUP 5. Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), CSO 25 Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) 2. a structure to deal with resource mobilization to avoid the duplication of efforts, and 3. developing a community of practice - the AUC needs a platform where it can share lessons and bring stakeholders from outside the region, to share their experiences on some of the things that we wish to replicate on the ground in our continent. • Recommendation on alignment and inclusivity. Make a deliberate effort to bring representation from non-traditional sectors into these discussions, including from low carbon infrastructure, industrialisation, urban building etc. This includes a deliberate effort by the AU to include colleagues from different departments. • Recommendation to partner with the CGIAR for ‘quick wins’. Build on the outcomes of the FARA meeting in Durban in June, the President of the AfDB, publicly pledged to fund the CGIAR. It is important that the AUC builds off this momentum. It is an entry point to operationalise areas of the Strategy. • Recommendation to ensure alignment. For example, the AU Strategy must align with the AU Land Policy Initiative to fast-track rights and the ownership of land. This is important to hold the occupiers of the land accountable for protecting it. It is also important to support and mobilize land productivity and ensure that climate activities do not create barriers for land users. • Recommendation on building effective and meaningful communities of practice. The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation funds the Africa Climate Foundation. It is an excellent example of how to mobilize climate finance looking at just energy transition partnerships and the number of stakeholders it takes to make such an initiative a reality. It would be useful to share the lessons learned on the processes, to improve and build upon them, and encourage learning as we go. • Recommendations on areas for strengthening the uptake of climate information services within the Strategy. Africa does not have adequate quantity and quality of climate data to inform decision making. We have weak observational and climate information infrastructure. We have inadequate capacity to collect and analyse data, as well as to develop climate models. Thus there is a need that goes beyond just increasing uptake. • Recommendations to enhance means of implementation. It is important to look at the capacity of National Designated Authorities (NDAs). NDAs should link with climate financing mechanisms, such as the GCF. The NDAs need to be able to engage with these funds, but also to develop proposals at a national level. Many countries struggle to access funds due to a lack of capacity, climate data, climate information, developmental fundable projects, and pipeline development, etc. The AAI is looking at establishing a climate finance hub which would support countries in developing these proposals and strengthening the capacity of NDAs. Going beyond just enhancing finance flows to include the capacity to be able to access this funding is key. • Recommendations to build capacity for climate finance. The capacity of NDAs should be built to regulate the pipeline of projects within each country. Furthermore, most of them do not have the capacity to develop proposals with a climate rationale, and so are unable to access these funds. For project pipeline development, the focus in terms of capacity building at the national level should not be solely on the NDAs, we also need to think about the national accredited entities. 26 Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) Climate finance - increasing flows, efficiency, and impact; Renewable Energy - supporting renewable energy, energy efficiency and national Just Transition programmes; Nature Based Solutions and Biodiversity - sustainable land management, forestry, oceans and ecotourism Resilient agriculture - focusing on economic development and green jobs; and Green and Resilient cities - with a focus on water (flooding and water resources) and enhancing information, communication and technology. 1 2 3 4 5 Identifying and modelling of the green recovery scenario for the implication of social development for national determined contributions. Catalysing a green finance facility at the AU, which is specifically designed to establish and mobilize funding for the green recovery. Green and social sustainable green bonds for climate change. A framework has been established and the Great Green Growth Institute (GGGI) will be involved in developing a pipeline of green bankable projects for around CAN$ 5 billion. Green growth policy knowledge and capacity building to create an enabling environment to allow green capital to flow into projects at a member state level. 1 2 3 4 African Union Green Recovery Action Plan (GRAP) The COVID-19 Pandemic disrupted economic and social systems, increasing poverty and inequality across the continent. Moving into a period of recovery, there is now an opportunity to reset traditional approaches, economic development, and shift towards greener more sustainable initiatives. This comes out of the policy for the GRAP, to guide the shift on the African continent, the AU developed GRAP to provide a framework for sustainable economic recovery from the pandemic.The GRAP’s main aim is to create jobs, promote economic growth, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while at the same time whilst protecting the environment and building resilience to climate change. In this regard, the GRAP’s intentions and aims are very aligned with the AU’s Climate Strategy. The GRAP is born out of the overall climate strategy and is specifically dealing with a recovery plan that needs to happen after COVID-19. The GRAP focuses on five key thematic areas: The GRAP has four work packages/ investment streams: Pramodh Debipersad Transformative Climate Finance Program, AU GRAP Global Green Growth Institute 27 Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) https://gggi.org Strengthening the AUCs ability to implement the GRAP through several initiatives. It revolves around capacitating and supporting the AUC team in terms of the success of the GRAP. Enhancing the skills of national and regional policy makers. The ACBF will undertake a diagnostic across seven shortlisted Member States and three RECs to ascertain exactly where they are with respect to their climate policy, and secondly to apply a framework of where they are, where we anticipate them to be, and then to manage initial risk. We need to determine how to go about managing that risk in terms of developing the relevant policies from a Ministry of Finance perspective to allow women and youth participation through a diagnostic toolbox, which will help operationalize at the member state. And then once we achieve that we will then create the enabling environment to allow financial capital to flow into climate sensitive projects across the five key thematic areas mentioned earlier. Born out of outcome 2, is improving the ability for governments and partners to access climate change finance. There has been a climate finance desk established where assistance will be disseminated across the entire AU, all director generals, all Member States, etc. 1 2 3 Enhanced impact on the economic and the climate resilience of the African population. The integration of women and youth into climate finance policy at a member state level. increase in water levels with respect to coastal cities. 1 2 Work packages 1-3 have not been capitalized at this stage, but there has been positive feedback received from a number of donors, such as Denmark, New Zealand, Netherlands, and potentially the World Bank, who have expressed interest in providing financing. Work package 4 is part of a GGGI strategy of unlocking the AU grant. The four work packages are not from the AU but provide a strategy for unlocking the GRAP. Work package 4, the Transformative Climate Finance Programme, has received an initial tranche of CAN$ 1 million for the first year. Over the three-year period it is anticipated to reach an aggregated sum of CAN$ 5 million in total. There are two key indicators that measure the performance of this programme: There are three intermediate outcomes to measure the performance of work package 4: 28 Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) There are three intermediate outcomes to measure the performance of work package 4 CONT: Work was then mapped onto seven work streams and from there 52 initiatives were developed. The core strategic success of the project, which will drive outcomes 1-3, comprises of five key phases, with each successful stage dependent on the other. This is a lot of the work that we have done in terms of mapping out the strategy of the transformative Climate Finance programme. • Phase A: measuring where they are exactly in terms of diagnostics. Engagement with Member States, diagnostics, KPIs, and benchmarking. There is a call for proposals to Member States to participate in outcomes 2. • Phase B: Finding and closing out the differentials to meet the KPIs with Member States. • Phase C: The process of enhancing policy development through upskilling senior officials in terms of policy development, carbon training, specifically within the ministries of finance. • Phase D: Crafting the enabling environment, which will allow financial and human capital to flow with various ministries of the AU. • Phase E: Full-scale implementation of the project, quantitatively spelled out in the strategic document, with the financial capital to flow in terms of the eventual success of the project. • Gender responsive and youth responsive toolbox for the operationalization of the GRAP which will support RECs and Member States. This will come from the deep diagnostic analysis work that we will be doing. For the development integration as well as monitoring and implementation in priority areas. • Training and capacity building programmes, which will be developed and delivered in 7 GGGI phase one Member States. All AU Member States will benefit from the project and seven countries, and three RECs, will be targeted for national and regional policy engagements. The trainings will target at least 360 policymakers with a minimum of 40% youth and 40% women participation, and 75 local officials directly linked with the Ministry of the Finance. there will be emphasis on South-South knowledge transfer. Amongst the selected Member States, seven inclusive green growth policies, programmes, and plans and then as the project focuses on capacity development and policy makers and strengthening to African institutions, that being the AUC and the Africa Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), the impact of the project is expected to supersede its duration. We anticipate that this will be longer than three years. In terms of the climate finance unit, it will comprise specialists in gender equality, climate mitigation, and adaptation investment policy. Our intention is to target at least two proposals to be submitted to climate investment funds, namely GCF and other investment funds. We also looking at hosting green finance investor roundtables with Quantitative measures that will determine project success: 29 Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) Quantitative measures that will determine project success CONT: the first one anticipated to take place in Cape Town, in February 2024. The aim is to develop awareness and capacity building, as well as guidelines and recommendations to support the integration of standards and the development of green credit instruments by participating commercial banks within the project lifecycle. We are attending at least six investor roundtables over the three-year period, which will bring together key public stakeholders with regional and international, institutional invested asset managers, and commercial banks. For targeted training through the AU/ AU Climate Finance programme, we will target at least 75 local officials directly linked to the Ministries of finance. The intention of this is to develop a deeper understanding of innovative financing approaches in climate finance projects and it is targeted from mid to senior level government officials and project sponsors. Lastly, training will include the integration of financial inclusion approaches, which are specifically targeted at vulnerable groups or ethnic minorities and indigenous groups. There is the need for institutions and robust institutional arrangements, however, there are already institutions established that have their own subregional strategies for climate change including the climate financing aspects of it. As we try to create alignment between this Strategy and their strategies, we need to conduct a capacity needs assessment at the regional level looking at what they are doing that they already have resources for and the gaps that exist within their own systems right now, be them financial or technical. This will then culminate into a pool of priorities from different sub-regions. Once the capacity gaps from different sub- regions have been observed, we can then bring them together to become a pool of new priorities from different sub-regions that will then engage in a prioritization exercise at the regional and AU level. We must then engage in a prioritization exercise with these subregional levels, looking at the activities that feed directly into your Strategy that you are able to implement. Now, once we have done this prioritization exercise, we will be going into the climate investment plans so that these priorities that have been highlighted or identified can then be quantified through some criteria that can be agreed upon at both the AU level and the regional institutions level. Then you know exactly how much is needed to support the initiatives within your sub-regions and the AU. Once you have that quantification of the resource CONTRIBUTION ON CAPACITY GAPS BY THE COMMONWEALTH CLIMATE FINANCE ACCESS HUB Oldman Koboto Manager for the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub 30 Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) requirement, be it technical or financial, then there is a need to develop a resource mobilization strategy. The beginning point of a resource mobilization strategy is stakeholder mapping, so taking stock of all these development partners and potential financiers within the sub-regions themselves, that can be mobilized or brought together by the AU to see which components of the climate investment plan they can support. Once they have been able to highlight the areas that they can support, then you support that with a sustainability plan that will then begin to roll out to supporting the Member States in the initiative, those sub-regions in the initiatives that they will be seeking to implement, like the GGW initiative, and many others that have been mentioned. We are already doing this, for example, we are partnering with SADC to implement the GGW initiative through our collaboration with AUDA-NEPAD and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification as the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub. With that, we wait for the reports from different subregions on the progress that is being made through the utilization of the resources that we have mobilized to implement this Strategy. From the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub, our role is mainly to enhance access to climate In Africa we have about 12 green bonds and FSD Africa supports 9 out of them. The 9 green bonds issued are just shy of a quarter billion dollars, which is quite small in terms of green bonds, especially if you look at the scale of the climate challenge that we are trying to address. Some of these challenges come from building up the portfolio for the green bond issuances. There is a need for effort when it finance by the Member States that have requested technical assistance. Based on the request, we assist countries through climate experts in developing project proposals. In the process of developing the project proposals, they begin to note the capacity gaps and policy requirements, and then they can develop a capacity building plan that will then show the government officials and the stakeholders at large in the country how to close those gaps, whether they be institutional or technical. Where the policies and legislation are identified as some risk or potential gaps to enhancing access to climate finance, we then provide that support to develop the associated policies by way of creating an enabling environment for investment. In the process of doing this, we help them to develop bankable projects that are then submitted for mobilizing. Since 2016, we have been able to mobilize around US$ 256 million to the Member States that we are supporting. We select the beneficiaries through a stakeholder engagement exercise. The projects are selected, and the capacity of the respective stakeholders is built to write project proposals. We ensure that by the time we exit we have created enough capacity across the sectors for them to develop project proposals independently of us. comes to portfolio building for public, private bonds and corporate bonds. If you are dealing with a bank, conducting an assessment of all their portfolios, you need to understand which loans can be categorized as ‘green’, and which ones can be categorized as ‘gender’. There are only two gender bonds which have been issued. The first was in Morocco, the second was in Tanzania, CONTRIBUTION BY THE FINANCIAL MARKETS DEVELOPMENT AGENCY Victor Nkuri Development Finance Project Lead 31 Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) which was the first to be listed by a bank. Similarly, the need was identified to build up the portfolios. This is a key area to address, to ensure you have the right expertise to build portfolios, so that you have sizeable issuances that come to market. The second issue that we have faced is the shortage of local verifiers in Africa. Most of the verifiers, for both bond types, have been foreign companies located in the EU. As a result we started a programme to train local verifiers. In Nigeria, there are now three local verifiers. We partnered with the Climate Bond Initiative in the UK to have them certified as verifiers. There is a need to train local verifiers as second party opinions are required to certify green and social loans, or bonds. Not only are they required pre-issuance, but they are also required post issuance. For most of the green bonds you need an external party to verify on the use of funds for at least the first two years. Local verifiers are also important for creating market information symmetry. The theme of the Summit is African solidarity for global climate action. Africa is heavily endowed with resources from solar to wind in the North, hydro power and wind in West Africa, East Africa is huge on hydro and geothermal energy, and wind, solar and hydro power in the South. Further, the Congo Basin is considered the lungs of the world. So we come as Africa, collectively, in solidarity, saying that we are part of the solution. We are not victims; we do not need help. We are part of the solution to the climate agenda, and we are doing this at the ACS in a collaborative way. We need to ask ourselves how can we use our collective strength to unlock the development of the continent? We Currently, there is a lot of asymmetries in the market. We are attempting our first inaugural report on the banking industry in Africa. Looking at how the banks are handling their Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) and assisting with capacity building. This could be considered within your Strategy. You might find that in some countries the bonds are not legally recognized. We have worked on several policies in Kenya and have successfully zero-rated tax on all green bond issuances. From a regulatory perspective, there is a need to work and be cognisant of all the capital markets, either Security Exchange Commission or CNAs. This is to ensure that there are rules that have been issued. We build a partnership with the capital markets regulator to allow sustainable bonds to be issued. Without the rules, the bonds cannot be issued, and neither can they be listed. Working with the regulators on this issue is something you may want to address. are also looking at food security, as 60% of global arable land is found in Africa. Additionally, we need to consider how we will use our renewable energy resources to drive food security? We are also very important stakeholders. Africa has one of the youngest populations and so stands to suffer enormously in terms of future climate impacts. We are a stakeholder in this, we have a role to play, and we are willing to play that role. We are hoping that other partners bring their strengths to the table so that collectively, we address the global challenge. The ACS is to feed into COP28 and into the UN Secretary General Summit in New York, their priority areas are all aligned. CONTRIBUTION ON THE AFRICA CLIMATE SUMMIT BY THE HOST DELEGATION Joseph Ng’ang’a CEO of the Africa Climate Summit Dr Pacifica Ogolla Ministry of Enviornment, Climate Change and Forestry, Government of Kenya 32 Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) Question and answer Question 1. How we can participate in the ACS in terms of side events, speakers, preparation etc.? We would like to specifically bring delegations to have a discussion around climate finance, to understand how to tap into climate finance, how to create an enabling environment for countries to be prepared to tap into carbon markets. The World Bank has been operating at the project level, so the resources are available, but we should adopt a structured approach. We understand there are economies of scale, and see the advantage of bringing multiple countries together, enabling coordination and cooperation. We would like to use the avenue to bring everybody together and we would like to hear the best way to do this. Answer. Climate finance is a huge part of what we hope to discuss at the Summit, because, while the message is very positive, and the resources are accessible, they have not been exploited. Climate finance will be accessible depending upon whether the World Bank programme is focused on climate and being more accessible to the poorer countries. There is a need to turn the resources into solutions. The expectation is that we will come out of the Summit with very concrete climate finance proposals that can then be implemented. Question 2. For the longest time we have been saying that women are carrying the brand of the climate crisis, and we have long advocated for the narrative of victimhood of African women. However, we have been working hard to change that narrative, to say, African women have solutions, are resilient and provide leadership. We are wondering if there is a space for African women to come collectively, to provide support mobilisation. There is a civil society agenda and a government agenda on gender, is there a space where all of us can come together? Question 3. Are there many organizations already curating events for the Climate Week? Also, which organizations will be operationalising the Nairobi Declaration, and will it inform the AGN position towards the negotiations for COP28? It is important that the farmers of this continent are given space to be able to present a statement. Is there space for this type of non-state intervention? Answer. Women have a key role to play and given that they have solutions as well, the question is, are we offering them the right platforms? Are we offering the right mechanisms for that strength to come through? And that is part of what we will be considering at the ACS, women and youth in particular. Answer. Eligibility criteria, it is a continent- wide collective effort and registration will be free. The goal is to be as inclusive as possible within the limitations of infrastructure. As far as the farmers, we have a track on resilient agriculture, and there will be a lot of exciting topics to be discussed in the summit. Request. We hope from here there is a follow up or something that will keep us involved beyond September’s Summit because we want something tangible. We want to see something that is workable for the African youth. We do not want to come to the forum and then just come back to Ethiopia. 33 Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) Question 4. We have a large research body of evidence at the CGIAR with a lot of solutions and innovations. How can we potentially support the post- Summit process? We realize at the Summit itself, there will be a lot of energy and a lot of vying for space and a lot of conversations. For sustainability, how can we be immediately taking those actions into helping policy partners, into helping intervention, helping to reshape research programmes? Question 6. You spoke about the resources available to Africa, and the strong, positive messages coming from the continent. Kenya has is renown as a leading example, through the Koko Pamoja projects around the blue carbon, mangrove restoration and the oceans-climate nexus. There was a meeting just last week in Comoros to discuss this in more detail, but it is an area where there is great interest and great momentum and great opportunity to tell a good news story. I just want to comment on that and trust that this is also a theme that will receive attention in the deliberations. Another point that I just want to briefly make is as much as it is an African Summit, and we need to make sure that the African messages are very strong, there is also a need for South-South dialogue that extends beyond the continent. This is an area that SAIIA is working on. We are engaging, and we will be submitting a concept note to take that discussion forward through the programme. Question 5. How we can we weave the Strategy through the conversations of the ACS? How can these processes better align? Question 7. Before the Summit there will be three pre-Summit events. What do we expect to see? Answer. The idea is to create a movement, and the movement says Africa is offering a solution to the world as a collective, as the African solidarity. There will be proposals tabled. Those proposals must be fleshed out, they must be implemented. The support is very welcomed. Answer. As a continent, we have small island states and these small island states, and coastal ecosystems will not be left behind. We hope that we will be able to shape a narrative that makes them feel included in the process. South-South dialogue is critical. His excellency the President in collaboration with the AU has invited Indonesia, Vietnam, Brazil, not just to hear what they are doing, but for them to also learn from what has been happening on the continent and to see how we can collaborate on lessons, but also resources. Answer. Kenya is proud to have launched the Strategy and signed it, during our host meeting last year. Therefore, it is our responsibility to champion this document. The CEO in an earlier meeting, had alluded to the fact that we need a special session to discuss the document. In that discussion, you can announce the components you are going to support. We know Member States are actively engaged in operationalizing GRAP. It has been my wish for a long time now that Kenya leads the renewable energy component of the energy plan. This is something that we can talk to our President about, to consider championing this. Answer. A memorandum from the youth, from the civil society, maybe even from the farmers being presented during the opening segment. We hope that there will also be speaking slots for these multi-stakeholder groups during the opening and closing segments. This Summit is focusing on action-oriented deliverables and the investment is looking into the future. We are looking into opening opportunities in Africa, using investments for positive development on the continent. We also expect to share these resources with other continents. 34 Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) I want to share three key actions the United States of America (USA) will take to further align our work with the Strategy and we hope that our efforts can contribute to this plan. The three key actions we commit to take include: Drastically reducing our emissions now to move toward net-zero emissions by 2050; Helping those impacted by climate change adapt through President Biden’s Prepare Action Plan (or PREPARE) initiative; and Aligning our work with the AU and Member States’ climate strategies. For my first action item, on mitigation, President Biden has brought unprecedented resources and ambition to this fight. He rejoined the Paris Agreement on day one, set an ambitious NDC target, and signed the Inflation Reduction Act, the most critical climate legislation in USA history. In the USA and in our diplomatic and development work abroad, we are working hard to keep a 1 2 3 DAY 02 CONTRIBUTION BY THE UNITED STATES MISSION TO THE AFRICAN UNION Day 2 involved several contributions, presentations and question and answer sessions. These are elaborated below. 1.5-degree Celsius limit within reach and to achieve net-zero global emissions by 2050 or before, as well as to advance urgent action on climate adaptation and resilience. In addition, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act which is the single, largest investment in climate and clean energy solutions in USA history. The Inflation Reduction Act positions the USA to achieve our ambitious climate targets while also accelerating economic growth, enhancing energy security, and strengthening resilience by dramatically boosting manufacturing, innovation, and deployment of clean technologies. This rapid expansion of clean energy manufacturing and deployment will also serve to lower energy costs around the world. The Inflation Reduction Act law appropriates US$ 369 billion in climate and clean energy investments, positioning the USA to meet our goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050, and getting half-way there by 2030, as reflected in our ambitious NDC under the Paris Agreement. For the second action item, adaptation must be at the core of our climate planning if we are to save lives and livelihoods from changes we can no longer Michael Fraser Economic Officer 35 Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) avoid. In Africa, with the world’s fastest growing populations and fastest growing economies, adaptation means contributing to livelihoods and creating jobs. To invest in all these strategies and supercharge adaptation efforts globally, at COP26 President Biden launched his President’s Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience, known as PREPARE. PREPARE is a whole-of- government effort, mobilizing 18 USA Federal Agencies to accelerate adaptation action and support, from forecasting to finance. We will help more than half a billion people in developing countries adapt to and manage the impacts of climate change this decade. Our PREPARE Action Plan lays out exactly how the USA will reach these goals. First and foremost, the plan recognizes that knowledge is power. PREPARE responds to the UN Secretary General’s call to ensure in the next five years “Early Warning for All” and increase access to climate information. For example, as you know, 70% of Africans rely on rain-fed agriculture, yet most do not have access to early warning systems or critical climate information to decide when to plant or harvest. Under PREPARE, President Biden has pledged to provide US$ 3 billion in international adaptation finance annually by 2024. We also look forward to working with the AU on the Early Warning Centre. For the third action item, I want to emphasize that we are actively working with the AU and its Member States to fully align our support for the collective implementation of the Strategy. We will work with Member States to assist with their climate planning and to help attract climate finance. For example, our United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Comprehensive Action for Climate Change Initiative (CACCI) programme-supports the AUC’s Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy, and Sustainable Environment in this space. Within the AU, CACCI supports African countries to act on their NDC through their NAP by providing technical and financial support that promotes climate resilience and inclusive growth. The climate crisis will define this generation and whether we successfully tackle this will determine the lives of future generations. We need to empower a climate- conscious society with the facts to hold us as leaders accountable. We are grateful for the collaboration we have had with the AU as well as with the governments and African people on the important topic of global food security and we look forward to strengthening our partnership with you in the future. It is tempting to think of last year’s global food crisis as being last year’s problem on occasion, maybe even frequently, we all engage in some wishful thinking and in problem avoidance. This would not be the occasion, however, to ignore the obvious. I think we all realised that last year’s food crisis is now this year’s food crisis. The numbers of food insecure have risen, even if media attention has declined. The number of people who do not know where their next meal is coming from now exceeds 200 million. It is an incomprehensibly large number and a human tragedy. Most of the major causes and catalyst of last year’s crisis are still with us. Climate change continues to be a major concern with more weather extremes and more variability. Last month was the 50th consecutive month in which the global monthly temperature exceeded the twentieth century average for that month. Excessive heat affects all plant parts at all stages of the plant’s life. It reduces yield, and it even reduces the nutritional content of what is left. It magnifies water stresses. Climate change is also causing shifts in the natural ranges of thousands of species, including agricultural pests and diseases, throwing together new and unique combination of species in farmers’ fields. Extreme weather events, such as the record- setting drought in the Horn of Africa, are causing immense human suffering. Conflict is both the cause and effect of food insecurity. Most of the food insecure people in the world are caught in this whirlwind of a cycle. CONTRIBUTION BY THE UNITED STATES SPECIAL ENVOY FOR GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY Dr Cary Fowler United States Department of State 36 Strategic Climate Investment Partnership Roundtable on the AU Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy and Action Plan (2022-2032) We must come to realize that global food security is a national security issue for everyone. Russia’s brutal war of aggression against Ukraine and its people is an example, everyone has paid the price, certainly the people of Ukraine, but also, and most concerningly of all, Africa. COVID-19 disrupted supply chains, impeded the production and distribution of food, and pushed many into extreme poverty and hunger. The world’s aquifers that supply much water for agriculture are being depleted much faster than they are being replenished, and the same could be said of the world’s soils. Soil erosion is occurring at a rate of 10 to 100 times greater than soil replenishment and not surprisingly, are most pronounced in some of the areas that are most food insecure. Finally, we are heading into an El Nino year, which typically means drier growing seasons. In Southern Africa, across large swathes of East Asia and Australia, for example, we are facing another difficult situation for global food security. The USA dramatically increased its contributions to the Nobel Peace Prize-winning World Food Programme last year and increased development aid. Looking forward, we are particularly interested in addressing the two core pillars of food security crops and soils. We will never achieve food security without fertile soils and adapted and productive crops. Poor soils, and poorly adaptive crops, produce poor harvest, poor people, and poor prospects. We all know this, so what more can we do? The last December at the USA-Africa Leaders’ Summit. We crafted to the USA-Africa partnership for building sustainable and resilient food systems in Africa. This partnership will help to boost agricultural research and development, climate- smart agriculture, soil, health and seed systems. In February, we announced an initiative we call a vision for adapted crops and soils focused on Africa. This effort is sponsored by the AY, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and ourselves and is well aligned with the African Common Position on food systems. It seeks to identify the most highly nutritious, traditional, and indigenous crops in Africa, assess how climate change is likely to affect them and then marshal substantial and sustained investments necessary to ensure that these crops can fulfil their potential in providing good nutrition to all. Most of these crops are grown by smallholders, predominantly women, and are vital to addressing nutritional deficiencies, childhood wasting and stunting. Last month, we attended the Agricultural Innovation Mission for Climate Summit where our partnership expanded. We value the AU’s work with Aim for Climate, and we encourage additional African Member States to join this key initiative focused on transformative research and development efforts. Currently, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Morocco, and Nigeria have joined from Africa. We wholeheartedly agree with Commissioner Sacko, who, during her participation at the Aim for Climate Summit underscored the significant role that innovation in agriculture can play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in improving soil health. We also support AU planning for the Fertiliser and Soil Health Summit, which can bring necessary political focus and financial resources to support long-term soil fertility goals for Africa. Looking forward, we have the UN Food Summit follow-up session in Rome next month. We expect Africa’s Agricultural and Food Systems Transformation Agenda to feature prominently during the Nairobi Climate Summit in September. We also have the UN General Assembly in September and of course COP28. Each offers opportunities for us to educate, advocate, and coordinate. We are closely tracking the Strategy, as well as the GRAP, ensuring that our joint work aligns with the two strategies, pillars on transforming food systems, enhancing climate finan