President Kenyatta Honored Global Champion For Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program

Global leaders have congratulated Uhuru Kenyatta on his appointment as the Global Champion for the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP).

President Kenyatta has been a key driving force behind the AAAP, an Africa-led, Africa-owned initiative jointly developed by the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) which is mobilizing US$25 billion for climate adaptation in the areas of food security, resilient infrastructure, adaptation jobs, and climate finance by 2025.

As the Global Champion for the AAAP, President Kenyatta will continue, in his personal capacity, carrying forward his bold leadership on climate adaptation in Kenya to mobilize the global community to honor their commitment of doubling global climate finance.

“Africa – indeed the world – is confronting multiple global shocks that are reverberating through our economies. The catastrophic drought in the Horn of Africa, exacerbated by climate change, is threatening lives and livelihoods, and needs an immediate response. Many African nations, including Kenya, are suffering losses of about three percent of GDP per year because of the present climate threat,” President Kenyatta said.

“I accepted the role of Global Champion for the AAAP to give impetus to the critical actions and global finance needed to address the climate and food crisis today, and to build a more resilient continent. AAAP is Africa’s plan that puts Africa’s youth and jobs at the center of the adaptation agenda for a green, prosperous Africa.”

President Kenyatta’s support as Global Champion for the AAAP is critical ahead of the ‘African COP’ at Sharm El-Sheikh in November 2022 for accelerating adaptation action and to drive substantive contributions to the AAAP at the Africa Adaptation Summit: GCA High-Level Dialogue for COP27, which will be held at the GCA headquarters on Monday 5 September. AAAP’s catalytic interventions have already rapidly delivered impact at scale by mainstreaming adaptation into projects worth over $3 billion since 2021.
In Kenya and the broader Horn of Africa, GCA is working with the African Development Bank and other development partners to scale up adaptation solutions for food security by bringing innovative digital solutions as well as drought-resistant grass varieties and crops to build on the success of the work in communities like Makueni and Samburu.

Over the last year, GCA has already mainstreamed adaptation solutions into US$3 billion worth of investments on the ground.