African countries need to spend money they don’t have to adapt to a crisis they did not create – and it is likely to come at the cost of crucial public services. Our analysis of Sub-Saharan African countries’ national climate plans and national adaptation plans suggests they could face climate adaptation costs that are up to five times higher than their national spend on healthcare.
The climate crisis is a global challenge – but its impacts are disproportionately felt by people living in poverty in low-income countries. It is a huge injustice that the impacts, and the costs, of the crisis are being borne by communities that have the fewest resources to respond to it – and who did the least to cause it.
Action is needed urgently to ensure that climate-vulnerable countries are able to protect themselves. In the meantime, innovative climate solutions are being developed by communities most affected by climate change – but in many cases the full impact of these solutions is being held back by lack of finance.
It is therefore important that:
- the promised $100 billion climate finance is delivered annually in full, with 50 per cent allocated for adaptation
- finance reaches local communities most impacted by climate change
