CENTURION, South Africa [17 December 2020] – The Collaborative Africa Budget Reform Initiative (CABRI), in collaboration with the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), the International Budget Partnership (IBP) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is pleased to announce the launching of the Inclusive Budgeting and Financing for Climate Change in Africa (IBFCCA) programme. This is a 5-year programme with an initial 12-month inception phase followed by a four-year implementation phase.

The inception phase has an allocation of USD 1.2 million, funded by Sida.

“An effective response to climate change must include women and budget allocations for mitigation.” - Ulla Andrén, Head of the Regional Section, sida

“Being the most important policy statement of any government, it is critical that the budget of a country reveals the investment that will be made to mitigate and adapt to climate change which will affect the livelihood of most of the African population.” – Neil Cole, Executive Secretary, CABRI

The IBFCCA Responds to the Climate Change Impact on Africa

According to the recent African Public Expenditure on Adaptation (APEA) analysis, without climate change adaptation, the Net Present Value of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) stream between now and 2050 for the African continent will fall by between 6 percent and 12 percent. The impact will be up to two times higher for 18 countries including ten in West Africa, five in East Africa, Mozambique and two island states. Countries with diverse economies are often most resilient, and African economies that are more dependent on agriculture are especially vulnerable.

In addition to these economic impacts on African countries, it is widely acknowledged that climate change (CC) -induced weather hazards disproportionately threaten the livelihoods and lives of those who are poor and marginalized, particularly women and girls. The IBFCCA programme therefore recognises that adaptation to CC is a pressing issue for Africa’s most vulnerable population. It also recognizes that to date, CC has been addressed largely as an “environment” issue in Africa and led by ministries of environment, which are generally not well placed to manage an effective response to an issue that affects—and requires actions by—a broad range of sectors. In addition, with growing macro-economic impacts and links to expenditure and revenue policy, there is a strong case for ministries of finance (MoFs) to become involved in CC policy and to mobilise the wider national and local budgetary processes involving government, legislatures, development partners and civil society.

In response to these multipronged challenges, the IBFCCA programme supports stronger links between CC policy and the budget process, with MoFs as the key interlocuters and highlights the role of women in CC integration. The programme seeks to encourage institutional change, strong leadership and buy-in across government and amongst state and non-state accountability actors. The overarching objectives of the programme are:

• to reduce CC impact, especially for women
• to help identify and promote opportunities for low carbon growth

As a gender-related intervention, the IBFCCA programme also aims to draw attention to the impact of CC on women. In some African cultures, women have a strong role in promoting social cohesion, which is key to building resilience. Unfortunately, due to a range of structural and socio-political reasons, women are often excluded from formal policy formulation and accountability processes. The programme seeks to encourage African governments to take gender issues into account when designing actions that respond to CC. This will require efforts to recognize, engage and support women as active and informed agents. Equally, African governments need to ensure that CC is considered when designing actions that promote gender equality, and this will require greater awareness about CC.

The IBFCCA Tackles the Climate Change Challenge on Several Levels

The inception phase will be open to the whole of Africa at two levels of engagement: focus countries and associated countries. Two focus countries have been identified based on existing work and engagement with CC: Ghana and Uganda. Associate countries will participate in the South-South peer learning and exchanges - with countries that have strong interest and some experience in climate change planning and budgeting such as Benin, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Tanzania and Zambia.

The programme has three components: (i) South-South learning on integrating climate change in fiscal and budget planning, led by CABRI. This focuses on pan-African dialogue and knowledge management; (ii) Country-based work led by UNDP will support two country actions in the Inception Phase: the first will be a country review and the second will support piloting a new budget/finance practice and (iii) Climate finance governance work led by the IBP and IIED will involve a structured programme of accountability assessments and capacity building for partner CSOs in two countries (i.e. Ghana and Uganda).

Upcoming activity

The inception phase will comprise of four virtual peer learning and exchange events. The first peer learning and exchange on the integration of CC into budgeting and finance will take place on 23 and 24 February 2021. It will provide a platform for knowledge sharing and facilitate South-South learning on approaches used to integrate CC into budgeting and finance, with a focus on Africa. Officials from African ministries of finance, planning, environment, and other relevant line ministries will be invited to participate and present on their experience with CC integration.

* The IBFCAA programme aims to work primarily with African expertise. There will be a variety of short-term opportunities for experts with experience that covers both climate change and public finance management. The programme welcomes contact from African experts interested in this work.

IBFCCA programme Communications Team:

Sida: Anna Tjärvar, Counsellor, Swedish Embassy, Addis Ababa

Email: anna.tjarvar@gov.se

CABRI: Priya Beegun, Marketing and Communications Manager

Email: priya.beegun@cabri-sbo.org

IIED: Paul Steele, Chief economist, Shaping Sustainable Markets

Email : paul.steele@iied.org

IBP: Delaine McCullough, Head of Climate Finance Accountability

Email : dmccullough@internationalbudget.org

UNDP : Michelle Mendi Muita, Communications Specialist

Email : michellemendi.muita@undp.org