- AfDB President Sidi Ould Tah affirmed the Bank’s commitment to climate action, striking a balance between adaptation and mitigation finance, and promoting green growth.
- He launched the Tropical Forests Forever Facility and urged the valuation of Africa’s ecosystems as economic assets.
African Development Bank (AfDB) President Sidi Ould Tah reaffirmed the institution’s commitment to turning “promises into progress,” highlighting its achievement as the first multilateral development bank to reach financing parity between climate adaptation and mitigation.
Speaking at the Belém Climate Summit ahead of COP30, Ould Tah stressed Africa’s critical role in global climate stability, saying, “We are all gathered here, driven by our collective responsibility to protect nature, our most precious asset in combating climate change and ensuring humanity’s survival.”
During a thematic session on Climate and Nature: Forests and Oceans, African delegates underscored the continent’s environmental significance. The Republic of Congo noted that Africa, home to 17% of the world’s tropical forests, loses an estimated 3.7 million hectares of tropical forests annually.
Meanwhile, Nigerian Vice President Kashim Shettima has called for equitable access to carbon markets and the development of new mechanisms to protect forests and oceans.
Furthermore, Ould Tah emphasised that Africa’s ecosystems serve as vital climate regulators. “The Congo Basin holds the world’s largest tropical peatlands, storing about 29 billion tons of carbon, equivalent to three years of global emissions,” he said.
He also outlined the Bank’s climate strategy, guided by its Four Cardinal Points: mobilising capital for green growth, promoting debt-for-nature swaps, empowering women and youth in environmental protection, and investing in resilient, nature-friendly infrastructure.
On Thursday, November 6, Ould Tah joined Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to launch the Tropical Forests Forever Facility, a global fund supporting countries across the Amazon, Congo, and other tropical forest regions. He described the initiative as a “historic milestone in global climate solidarity,” aligning with AfDB programs such as the Congo Basin Forest Fund and the Central African Forests Commission.
Ahead of COP30 negotiations on the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) for climate finance, the AfDB is helping African countries explore innovative solutions. In 2024, it published Measuring the Green Wealth of Nations, urging governments to integrate natural capital into GDP calculations to enhance creditworthiness and attract investment for a sustainable, low-carbon future.