More than $150 million climate finance was announced, at the 27th climate change conference in Egypt, to accelerate Africa’s adaptation to climate change.

The package was announced at a special session on "Advancing Adaptation Action in Africa” co-hosted by Sameh Shoukry, COP27 President, and United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry.

Shoukry said: "The key challenge for African countries is to access funding for climate action.”

He said that the adaptation agenda which comprises a total of 30 global adaptation outcome targets by 2030 was also launched at COP27.

These, he said, are urgently needed to address the adaptation gap and increase the resilience of 4 billion people through accelerating transformation across five impact systems namely food and agriculture, water and nature, coastal and oceans, human settlements, and infrastructure.

Shoukry said: "Egypt as COP27 President and as an African nation, is well aware of the adaptation challenges facing our continent, and we are pleased to have collaborated over the past year with the United States to develop a diverse package of support for Africa in the field of adaptation and resilience.”

As part of the US Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience (PREPARE), US has doubled its adaptation fund pledge $100 million, and the accelerating adaptation in Africa initiative provides $150 million in support to accelerate PREPARE’s work across the continent.

The Adaptation in Africa initiative previously announced in June 2022 by President Biden and President El-Sisi has the potential to result in $4-10 of benefits for every dollar invested.

It now includes support from the US for $13.6 million for helping in filling 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.

There is also finance of $10 million to support the capacity building of Africa’s current and future decision-makers.

It also includes $10 million to support the launch of a new adaptation centre in Egypt – the Cairo Center for Learning and Excellence on Adaptation and Resilience, announced by Egypt, to build adaptation capacity across Africa.

The packages also comprise $2 million to the Resilience and Adaptation Mainstreaming Program 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 to enhance access to adaptation finance for the most vulnerable.

At least $25 million, under the initiative, has been pledged to the African Union’s flagship Africa Adaptation Initiative (AAI), which is hosted by the Egyptian government, will help to launch the AAI Food Security Accelerator, which will dramatically speed and scale-up private sector investments in climate resilient food security in Africa.

The Adaptation in Africa initiative also has $100 million in adaptation funding to support food systems.