World Bank Group announced Thursday it is providing USD$22.5 billion to Africa for climate mitigation and adaptation across five years beginning with 2021, adding to the $17 billion already committed through the Africa Climate Business Plan.

The announcement was made during the One Planet Summit in Nairobi, with President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya and President Emmanuel Macron of France on hand for the high-level meeting.

Interim World Bank President Kristalina Georgieva delivered a keynote address at the summit, held alongside this week’s United Nations Environment Assembly. Also on hand was UN Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed.

Akinwumi Adesina, head of the African Development Bank, also announced $25 billion in African climate-related commitments across years 2020 through 2025.

“This funding supports increasing adaptation and resilience to major climate impacts like catastrophic floods, droughts, water scarcity, coastal erosion as well as preparing countries for a low carbon sustainable future,” said World Bank in a statement.

The funding recognizes that many African nations are among the most vulnerable to climate change. Summit organizers note that while Africa is responsible for only 4 percent of global greenhouse-gas emissions, 65 percent of the African population is considered to be directly impacted by climate change.

World Bank also announced an Emission Reductions Purchase Agreement (ERPA) will be signed between the Carbon Initiative for Development (Ci-Dev)trust fund, with World Bank acting as trustee, and Kenya Tea Development Agency Power Company Ltd. (KTDA Power).

“The contract is slated to purchase carbon credits from small hydropower plants that provide power to 350,000 smallholder tea farmers and 39 of their regional tea factories in Kenya,” World Bank said. “The new ERPA brings the Ci-Dev portfolio to more than $73 million in implementation.”

World Bank also will work closely with Kenya and Rwanda on their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) as originally set out in the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Image: World Bank