Unblocking the climate finance negotiations will unlock a new global agreement on climate change in Paris later this year. Developing countries need to see tangible commitment to providing the finance needed to combat the negative effects of climate change.

As global emissions continue to increase, so does the cost of managing the impact. Africa’s Group of Negotiators (AGN) is positioned to take the lead, consistently presenting common positions for 54 countries. A breakthrough necessitates focus on a key issue that will yield win–win outcomes. The global climate finance architecture, while evolving, has not been able to secure predictable financial flows, thereby jeopardising progress. Unpredictable finance stymies developing country efforts to plan for and deliver climate responses. Innovation and credibility are the solution. Africa must use known approaches in different ways in the search for climate responses that meet domestic adaptation needs while responding to the global carbon challenge.

Recommendations:

Africa must identify realistic sources of climate finance that are likely to be sustained and secure these predictable flows as an essential element of any new global agreement
on climate change at the Paris (COP21) conference
the African Group can lead a breakthrough in the climate
negotiations through focused, innovative and credible domestic and global solutions. It needs to identify workable approaches that are innovative in their ability to ensure
climate change adaptation while facilitating low-carbon development pathways
for Africa to generate credible adaptation linked to low-carbon development and increase willingness
among international partners to provide finance, the continent should bolster its ability to leverage climate
finance by developing better insights into the global and domestic political economies of climate finance
adequately financed adaptive developments that also carve lowcarbon pathways will represent a win–win outcome for all parties because they simultaneously catalyse
transformation. To achieve this breakthrough, African countries must secure and spend predictable flows
of finance and then seek incremental increases in the financial flows