An additional $15 billion investment announced for the Nexus of Food, Water & Energy (NWFE) programme will fund implementation with one $10 billion energy project, five projects for food security and agriculture and three irrigation and water projects

The Accelerating Adaptation in Africa initiative was announced at a special COP27 session titled "Advancing Adaptation Action in Africa.”

During the event, Shoukry stated that “the key challenge for African countries is to access funding for climate action. Recognising that progress towards adapting to climate consequences and enhancing resilience is crucially needed, we launched a couple of days ago here at COP27 the Sharm-El-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda.”

“This agenda comprises a total of 30 global adaptation outcome targets by 2030 that are urgently needed to address the adaptation gap and increase the resilience of four billion people through accelerating transformation across five impact systems: food and agriculture, water and nature, coastal and oceans, human settlements and infrastructure,” he added.

As part of the US Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience (PREPARE), the US has doubled its Adaptation Fund Pledge to $100 million.

The Accelerating Adaptation in Africa initiative will accelerate PREPARE’s work across the continent.

The initiative has the potential to result in $4-10 of benefits for every dollar invested.

The US will provide support comprising:

• $13.6 million for a Systematic Observations Financing Facility that will help fill weather, water and climate observation gaps in Africa. 
• $15 million to support the co-development and deployment of early-warning systems in Africa to cut the number of people who need emergency assistance in half by 2030 – and from 200 million to just 10 million by 2050. 
• $10 million to support the capacity building of Africa’s current and future decision makers by supporting the launch of Egypt’s Cairo Centre for Learning and Excellence on Adaptation and Resilience.
• $2 million to the Resilience and Adaptation Mainstreaming Programme to build the capacity of governments to manage climate risks and access finance.
• $3.5 million in support for the Least Developed Countries Initiative for Effective Adaptation & Resilience, helping African countries like Uganda, Malawi, Gambia and Burkina Faso to enhance access to adaptation finance for the most vulnerable.
• Expanding access to risk-based insurance for the most vulnerable by supporting regional risk insurance pools, including contributing $12 million to the Africa Disaster Risk Financing Programme and $12 million to ARC Ltd.
• $25 million to the African Union’s flagship Africa Adaptation Initiative (AAI), which is hosted by the Egyptian government, to launch the AAI Food Security Accelerator, which will dramatically speed-up and scale-up private sector investments in climate resilient food security in Africa.
• Encouraging private sector innovation through $3.8 million to CRAFT TA Facility, and $2 million to launch an adaptation window of the Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance to help develop new financial instruments and mechanisms to harness private investment in adaptation.
• $100 million in adaptation funding in FY2022 to support food systems.

Biden also announced the launch of a new initiative to support Egypt in deploying 10 GW of new wind and solar energy while decommissioning five GW of inefficient natural gas generation.

Earlier this week in a statement released via the US embassy in Cairo, Kerry stated that “unprecedented” investment in clean energy is needed to limit warming to 1.5°C and avert catastrophic climate impacts on communities worldwide.

His statement added that “annual clean energy investment must triple to $4.2 trillion by 2030,” with over half of that investment needed for emerging and developing economies.

The Advancing Adaptation Action in Africa event was immediately followed by a second event, also jointly hosted by Egypt and the United States, addressing how to accelerate mitigation while ensuring energy security and focusing on providing support for Egypt’s NWFE programme.

At COP27, Egypt signed partnerships for NWFE to support the implementation of climate initiatives with investments worth $15 billion. This includes an energy project worth $10 billion and eight food security, agriculture, irrigation and water projects.