By Savithri Rodrigo
South Africa (Commonwealth Union)_The Great Green Wall of the Sahara and the Sahel which was conceived to combat desertification and unplanned development expansion in these regions, paves the way for the Great Blue Wall, where east African nations are seeking funding to protect the marine life and communities along the coastline. At the United Nations headquarters in New York recently, the high-level political forum on sustainable development discussed introducing blue bonds to finance and boost ocean health, conservation and combat climate change.
By introducing blue bonds, Africa is now bringing in the capital markets into climate action using it as a powerful tool to support the continent’s sustainability objectives. In both instances of blue and green financing, Africa aims to prevent combat climate change, prevent environmental damage and instigate sustainable ecosystems.
The Great Blue Wall is an initiative of ten western Indian Ocean states launched during the UN Climate Conference in Glasgow last year. Spanning the continent’s east coast from Somalia to South Africa including Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, Somalia, Mayotte and the Reunion, the Great Blue Wall targets the restoration and conservation of two million hectares of ocean, capture 100 million tonnes of carbon dioxide and give security to the livelihoods of more than 70 million people.
While blue bonds will only be a fraction of the cost of ocean conservation funding and definitely not the sole panacea for funding climate action, it is a step towards getting the private sector buy-in to raise larger amounts for funding.
The African Development Bank details a requirement of about USD 1.6 trillion by 2030 to implement climate action aligned with nationally determined targets which are set by individual countries. One of these targets is limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celcius. However, the UN Economic Commission for Africa urges the need to dramatically upscale private sector investments into both the blue and green sectors as less than one percent of the bonds used for marine and land projects are issued for African countries.
With financial climate promises made by developed countries not materialising fully, Africa will have to do it herself – adapt and mitigate measures that impact climate change. It is here that the true value of wealth creation and empowerment of local communities exist and it is here that Africa can make a difference to her people and her planet.
