Devex Newswire: Deliverables and declarations in Africa

Africa broadcast its demands loud and clear during the Africa Climate Summit, but what happens in the weeks and months ahead will determine if anyone was really listening. Also in today’s edition: Lots of pledges at the G20 summit, including from the World Bank. Africa has its say The Africa Climate Summit was infused with the now-rote calls for wealthier governments, the private sector and multilateral lenders to help the continent cope with climate change, the effects of which it’s least responsible for but disproportionately harmed by. While the usual summitry was on display last week in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi — a parade of heads of state vowing to turn rhetoric into action, people outside protesting that rhetoric isn’t being turned into action — the first-of-its-kind gathering was nevertheless notable on several fronts. The fact that 20,000 participants gathered on African soil to formulate an African response to climate change was itself symbolic, given the glut of conferences in the global north. And there were tangible deliverables (though whether they’re ultimately delivered is another matter). The three-day summit wrapped up with a total of $23 billion in new funding commitments, which includes $3 billion annually for adaptation as part of the United States PREPARE program. The African Development Bank also pledged to provide $25 billion toward climate financing by 2025, our contributing reporter David Njagi writes. The gathering also produced the Nairobi Declaration to forge a common African position ahead of the U.N. Climate Change Conference in November — itself a feat when you consider that some summits struggle to even come up with a communiqué amid geopolitical squabbling. The declaration calls for a global carbon tax regime on greenhouse gas-spewing sectors like fossil fuels, maritime transport, and aviation to help finance green growth on the continent. African leaders also pledged to scale up renewable energy, while insisting that the global community fulfill its own climate pledges. They also urged multilateral banks to do their part by easing Africa’s debt burden and investing in the continent’s potential. “In Africa, we can be a green industrial hub that helps other regions achieve their net-zero strategies by 2050,” says President William Ruto of Kenya. “Unlocking the renewable energy resources that we have in our continent is not only good for Africa, it is good for the rest of the world.” But many civil society groups contend that the declaration focused more on carbon credits, offsets and technology than on actually phasing out fossil fuels and is good for the global north, not Africa. “The declaration is laced with calls for green growth, cries for finance and veiled references to carbon trading, technology and the like, which open routes for green colonialism and render the continent nothing better than a vast carbon sink and experimental grounds for polluting nations and corporations,” says Nnimmo Bassey, director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation. Read more: Africa's inaugural climate summit ends with mixed reviews ICYMI: To tackle climate, Africa needs 'finance and more finance,' says AfDB head The Pro read: What does the data say about climate development funding? + Not a Devex Pro member yet? Start your 15-day free trial of Pro today to unlock all our exclusive reporting and analysis. Not just better, but bigger Bucking widespread skepticism, leaders of the Group of 20 major economies converging in New Delhi, India, managed to produce a joint declaration, which seems to have made Russia happy because while it denounces the use of force to acquire territory, it does not explicitly condemn the Kremlin for its aggression in Ukraine (whose president was not invited to the summit). Diplomatic kerfuffle aside, the two-day summit this past weekend wrapped up with some big deliverables, notably India’s invitation for the 55-member African Union to join the G20, significantly expanding the global south’s representation in the club of leading economies. Meanwhile, an ambitious deal to build a rail and shipping corridor linking India with the Middle East and Europe was seen as a pointed response to China’s Belt and Road-driven infrastructure spending spree. While it may not have garnered as many headlines, World Bank President Ajay Banga made some ambitious declarations of his own, vowing that: “After we deliver a better bank, we will need a bigger Bank.” That comes on the heels of U.S. President Joe Biden’s pledge to show low- and middle-income countries that the U.S. is a better alternative to China — a pledge underpinned by increasing the lending firepower of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. “President Biden has been committed to fundamentally reshaping and scaling up the World Bank to more effectively deliver both poverty reduction and inclusive economic growth, while also addressing global challenges from climate to migration and to the recovery from COVID-19,” U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters heading into the G20. In August, the administration asked the Congress for $3.3 billion in additional funding for the bank, which it said it could leverage to provide “over $27 billion in U.S.-backed financing and grants for developing countries,” with the potential to grow that to more than $100 billion if other countries chip in. (Germany has already signaled it is ready to invest in so-called hybrid capital to help the bank offer cheaper loans.) Banga has emphasized using the bank’s existing balance sheet to squeeze out more funding and other reforms. He told the G20 that “to truly make a difference, we will need a greater appetite for risk, meaningful private sector financing, and … a sense of urgency.” That includes boosting concessional financing to low- and middle-income countries. The World Bank also issued a statement of support in the wake of the earthquake in Marrakech, Morocco, that killed upward of 2,000 people. The historic city is set to host the World Bank annual meetings in October (no word on whether that may change). ICYMI: G20 experts urge 'inescapable' capital increase for development banks (Pro) Related reading: Where things stand with World Bank reform (Pro) + For more content like this, sign up to Devex Invested, our free, Tuesday newsletter on business, finance, and the SDGs. The right balance “Everyone talks about the importance of having a balance on your board and I just think we are adding new pieces to what that means when we say balance.” --— Sean Carroll, president and CEO, Anera Carroll and I joined Devex Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar to discuss the top stories in global development this week, including efforts to diversify philanthropic boards. Carroll added that measures of diversity now also include geographic balance and perspective. Listen: The END Fund's new board chair, and the UK's potential ODA increase Opinion corner • “The Africa Climate Summit is an opportunity to harness the collective voice of my continent to champion the restructuring of the Bretton Woods institutions for a more efficient, inclusive, and equitable climate financing landscape,” writes Oluseun Onigbinde. • Combating climate change necessitates more transparency, given that crisis and conflict often breed corruption. “In the context of climate change, corruption can manifest through subsidy misuse, bribery, nepotism, or manipulation of scientific data,” argues Steven-Hristo Evestus. • The interplay between culture and development has never been more important than it is today. In fact, culture and creativity represent 3.1% of the global gross domestic product and account for 6.2% of global employment, explain Ian Thomas and Nikki Locke. + Want to write an opinion article for Devex? Email us your pitch at editor@devex.com. In other news A Russian missile strike in eastern Ukraine resulted in the tragic deaths of two foreign aid workers, with two others sustaining injuries. [BBC] Morocco has received aid from Spain, Britain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates in a global display of solidarity with the victims of its strongest earthquake in history, which struck several towns and cities last Friday. [Al Jazeera] IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva emphasized the urgent need to boost the fund's quota resources before year-end and called on G20 members to deliver on a promise of $100 billion a year in climate funds. [Reuters] Sign up to Newswire for an inside look at the biggest stories in global development.