Janneh calls for innovative financing to harness internal resources for climate change

Abstract

The United Nations Under-Secretary General and Executive Secretary of the UN Economic r for Africa, Mr. Abdoulie Janneh, today discarded assertions that Africa might not be able to absorb all the resources it needs for climate change as a “false debate that should not be taken very seriously.” Mr. Janneh who was responding to a question during a panel discussion on climate finance at the Durban conference (COP17) said that there are sufficiently robust structures on the continent to handle any amounts that countries of the region might receive to finance adaptation to the negative impacts of climate change. The ECA Executive Secretary went on to suggest areas in which Africa could mobilise internal resources to shore up their economies that are hard hit by the effects of the phenomenon. He argued that although public sources of financing (under the present circumstances) would be difficult to explore, they remain an important area to look at, including the private sector and, most importantly, new and innovative financing mechanisms, reports ECA’s Information and Communication Service. The new strategy on innovative financing for development consists of recipient countries’ investing in vital sectors through debt conversion and the Advance Market Commitment (AMC) aimed at accelerating manufacturing, for example. Pressed to predict whether the Kyoto Protocol might be buried at the Durban climate change conference, Mr. Janneh said he did not think that it would happen, “I am confident countries would be able to find a mechanism to salvage the Protocol”, he said.