The World Bank has unveiled a detailed roadmap aimed at helping countries in sub-Saharan Africa to address climate change and poverty.

The plan is titled the Next Generation Africa Climate Business Plan (NG-ACBP).

According to the World Bank’s plan, it urges countries to seize the opportunity to scale-up climate resilience to redouble efforts to increase energy access,  grow their economies and reduce poverty and take advantage of sustainable and innovative approaches to leapfrog into greener development pathways.

As part of the plan over the next six years, the World Bank will focus on five key areas namely clean energy, food security, green and resilient cities, environmental stability and climate shocks.

The bank aims to expand integrated landscape management over 60 million hectares in 20 countries, train 10 million farmers on climate-smart agricultural approaches, increase renewable energy generation capacity from 28GW to 38GW so as to increase access to clean electricity and outfit at least 30 cities with low carbon and compact urban planning approaches.

According to the bank, 43 million additional people could be pushed below the poverty line by 2030 in sub-Saharan Africa without the rapid deployment of inclusive, climate-informed development. This is why the bank is recommending sub-Saharan African countries enact policy reforms that recognise the realities of climate change, in order to strengthen recovery.

This follows the bank investing $33 billion in 346 climate action projects in Africa over the past six years.

“The climate challenge cuts across every priority – poverty reduction, agriculture, job creation, women’s empowerment, fragility, and more. Countries, therefore, have to tackle it in multiple ways, including by helping cities develop in clean ways, making climate-smart agriculture practices the norm, improving clean, green, and affordable energy, and putting people and communities at the forefront in order to improve lives and protect the future.” Said Ousmane Diagana, World Bank vice president for West and Central Africa.

“Africa’s main challenge is to adapt to climate change by investing in more resilient agriculture and food systems, building infrastructure that resists extreme weather events, protecting its coastal cities, and enhancing disaster preparedness systems. At the same time, green technologies provide an opportunity for growth and job creation.” Said Hafez Ghanem, World Bank vice president for East and Southern Africa.

Also  Read: World Bank $104m for Mozambique’s skills development programmes

 

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