An African Climate Finance Agenda for COP26

The document presents recommendations from African stakeholders to improve the quantum and quality of climate finance. Key priorities include establishing a global goal for adaptation finance, streamlining access to the Green Climate Fund (GCF), and creating national regulatory environments to unlock private investment. It emphasizes the need for grant-based finance to avoid exacerbating debt crises and calls for a broader definition of return on investment for adaptation projects.

• African stakeholders argue that the focus of climate finance must shift from the total amount to the quality of funding, calling for greater ambition beyond the $100 billion annual goal and a specific global goal for adaptation finance.
• There is a significant gap in the distribution of climate finance, with Africa receiving approximately 3% of global flows, while African Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) require an estimated $3 trillion investment by 2030.
• Access to climate finance is hindered by complex procedural requirements and a preference for loans over grants, which risks increasing the debt burden on African countries, particularly middle-income states.
• To unlock private sector investment, African governments need to establish transparent policy processes and enabling regulatory environments, while the international community should provide credit-enhancement mechanisms to de-risk investments.
• Adaptation finance is currently insufficient because most funding targets mitigation; stakeholders recommend that the Green Climate Fund (GCF) relax evidentiary requirements for adaptation projects and that lenders commit to a fixed percentage of funding for adaptation.
• Post-pandemic recovery should be leveraged to 'build back better' through green stimulus packages and innovative financial instruments such as debt-for-nature or debt-for-climate swaps.

APA

RUMBLE, O., & BENKENSTEIN, A. (2021). An African Climate Finance Agenda for COP26. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Discussion-Paper_ClimFinReport_FINAL_20211018.pdf

Chicago

RUMBLE, OLIVIA, and ALEX BENKENSTEIN. An African Climate Finance Agenda for COP26. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2021. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Discussion-Paper_ClimFinReport_FINAL_20211018.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=RUMBLE |first1=OLIVIA |last2=BENKENSTEIN |first2=ALEX |title=An African Climate Finance Agenda for COP26 |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=25 October 2021 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Discussion-Paper_ClimFinReport_FINAL_20211018.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rumble2021african, author = {RUMBLE, OLIVIA and BENKENSTEIN, ALEX}, title = {{An African Climate Finance Agenda for COP26}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2021}, month = oct, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Discussion-Paper_ClimFinReport_FINAL_20211018.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }