The Pan-African Risk Management Mutual Group (ARC) and the Global Centre for Adaptation (GCA) have signed, in Rotterdam, Netherlands, a memorandum of understanding aimed at helping the African agricultural sector to deal with the effects of climate change.
By Ibrahima Dione
With this agreement reached on Monday 6 September, the two entities want to facilitate “access to investments in the field of risk management.”
In a joint statement seen by APA on Tuesday, the African Union (AU), the Pan-African Risk Management Mutual (ARC) and the Global Centre for Adaptation (GCA) promised to engage in “high-level advocacy and facilitation of dialogue and exchange.”
The aim is to “ensure access to best practices and instruments for disaster risk financing as part of their overall climate change adaptation strategies.”
In addition, the initiative will be supported by a joint landscape assessment for the development of risk transfer and other innovative instruments to improve the participation of African countries in ARC’s disaster risk insurance pools, the statement added.
During the signing ceremony of the MoU, GCA Chief Executive Officer Patrick Verkooijen explained the need for such a partnership: “There is a five- to ten-fold gap between the financial resources currently devoted to climate change adaptation and the adaptation needs in developing countries. More private sector investment and new financial instruments are needed to help vulnerable communities withstand the accelerating impacts of climate change.”
For his part, Ibrahima Cheikh Diong, UN Under-Secretary-General and Director General of the ARC Group, stressed that achieving climate resilience in Africa “requires smart partnerships and focused alignment between like-minded agencies.”
The MoU also aims to collaborate on policy influencing activities to align the African financial sector with national and global climate change commitments.
This includes disseminating the integration of climate change resilience to African financial insurance regulators and generating and spreading knowledge to strengthen disaster risk mitigation initiatives.
ID/lb/as/APA