Technology and Science09 July, 20263 min read
African Development Bank Group Launches 15-Year Climate Partnership Report Ahead of COP32 in Addis Ababa
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High-Level Dialogue at the 2026 Annual Meetings advances Africa's climate leadership toward COP32. Event brings senior leaders from governments, multilateral institutions, climate funds, private sector, civil society.
COP32 funding push
On the margins of the African Development Bank Group's 2026 Annual Meetings, a High-Level Dialogue titled "Africa's Leadership on Climate: Financing the Transformation, Strengthening Partnerships, and Charting the Path to COP32" advanced Africa's climate and development agenda and launched a report on 15 years of partnership between the African Development Bank Group and the Climate Investment Funds (CIF). In opening remarks, Kevin Kariuki, Vice President for Power, Energy, Climate Change and Green Growth at the African Development Bank Group, said: "Over the past fifteen years, we have mobilized more than a billion dollars in CIF resources." Kariuki added that "for every CIF dollar, ten dollars of additional financing were mobilized," describing how CIF resources enabled 2.5 billion dollars in additional financing from the African Development Bank and 9 billion dollars from other sources.
“Over the past fifteen years, we have mobilized more than a billion dollars in CIF resources.”
Participants also discussed the expanding role of the Loss and Damage (L&D) Response Fund as an operating pillar in the global climate finance architecture, with Ibrahim Sheikh Dioung saying: "If we want this fund to succeed in supporting Africa, it must be country-led, owned by the countries, and driven by the countries." The dialogue highlighted preparations for COP32 to be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 2027, with Simret Siwasio saying: "Ethiopia will host COP32, but it must be an African COP."
Loss and damage funding gap
As the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) moves through its first major funding cycle, Climate Home News warned that the fund faces a significant decision on its Resource Mobilisation Strategy and said the FRLD "faces the very real danger of running out of funding in 2027." Climate Home News also reported that pledges to the Fund ($822 million) are "just a fraction of 1% of annual loss and damage needs," and that only around half of those pledges ($448 million) have been paid into the Fund so far. Eco-Business described a separate financing crunch, saying there is a US$2.8 billion gap between current resources and funding requests as the FRLD board meets in Manila, Philippines this week.
Eco-Business further stated that the FRLD currently has just US$250 million available for its initial round and that the ninth FRLD board meeting is held from 8 to 10 July at the Asian Development Bank headquarters. In Manila, The Climate Watch said the board meeting is taking place with requests totaling approximately $2.8 billion against an initial allocation of around $250 million, and it reported that the FRLD is processing 176 formal submissions from vulnerable developing countries as of the ninth board meeting in July 2026.
Manila board and what’s next
The FRLD board meeting in Manila is expected to shape how the fund delivers grant-based support, transparency and country access during its first major funding cycle, with The Climate Watch describing a pivotal three-day session at the Asian Development Bank headquarters. In its reporting on the board’s agenda, The Climate Watch said that through Friday the board will finalize the Results Measurement Framework, the Country Support System and preparations aimed at strengthening transparency, accountability and equitable access within the fund. Eco-Business reported that the scheme offers grants of US$5 million to US$20 million for developing-country projects under the Barbados Implementation Modalities (BIM) pilot phase, and that the start-up phase had originally aimed to disburse funds by end-June 2026 before slipping to the end of the year.
Eco-Business also said the board will consider the first four funding proposals, from Haiti, Nigeria, Jamaica and Côte d’Ivoire, which together amount to US$77.4 million, nearly one-third of the BIM start-up allocation. Campaigners warn that without new pledges the FRLD could run out of money by 2027, and Eco-Business said they are calling for the first replenishment to target at least US$50 billion a year between 2027 and 2031, in new, additional, public and grant-based finance from wealthy, high-emitting nations.