5th February 25

Climate Finance Flows in Africa - The Gender Disparity

The impacts of climate change such as erratic weather patterns, biodiversity loss and rising sea levels have become more evident with women being more disproportionately vulnerable to the risks due to political and socio-economic imbalances. Globally, there has been concerted efforts by nations to combat climate change through Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), a climate action plan to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and adapt to climate impacts as encapsulated in the Paris Agreement. However, achieving the desired outcomes of the plan, requires climate financing support.

The Paris agreement under the “common but differentiated responsibility and respective capabilities” principle calls for financial support from developed countries to developing countries to meet their NDCs. There have been notable strides towards providing financial support to developing countries. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), reports that in 2022 developed countries provided and mobilized USD 115.9 billion in climate finance for developing countries, surpassing the annual 100 billion goal.[1] At the COP29 held in 2024, a breakthrough agreement was reached where developed countries pledged to triple their financial support to USD 300 billion annually from USD 100 billion annually.

The African continent accounts for two to three per cent of the world’s carbon emissions, making it the lowest emitter in comparison to other continents, yet it is severely affected by the impacts of climate change.[2] This provides a compelling case for more and incessant climate financing support. It is estimated that African countries need USD 2.8 trillion between 2020 and 2030 to implement their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). However, Africa’s access to climate finance has been way below what is needed. According to the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI), in 2021/2022, Africa received approximately USD 44 billion in climate finance, marking a 48% increase from USD 29.5 billion received in 2019/2020 and accounting for only 3.6% of global climate finance.[3] The amount was only 23% of the estimated finance required annually for African countries to implement their NDCs and meet their 2030 climate goals. Public finance contributed the lion’s share of 82% of the total climate finance. 32% of the funding was channeled towards adaptation solutions with two of the most vulnerable sectors namely Agriculture, Forest, and Other Land Use (AFOLU) and Water being the largest recipients. Private sector contribution towards climate finance has been low, however, 2021/22 experienced a twofold growth (to reach USD 8 billion), with most of the investments geared towards energy systems. While the overall funding increased, the sectoral mix in climate flows remained largely unchanged with energy, AFOLU, transport, and other cross-sectoral activities receiving 87% of overall funding, overshadowing other existing sectors such as industry. Overall, Africa’s climate finance flows must at least quadruple annually until 2030 to meet the investment needs for implementing its countries’ current NDCs.

Despite the increase in climate finance flow, women-led businesses face significant challenges in accessing these funds. Cultural norms, gender unresponsive financial instruments, a lack of understanding of women in combating climate change have exacerbated their underrepresentation in climate budgets and climate financing mechanisms. A report by UN Women highlights that women’s organizations and women-led businesses often do not access climate finance, limiting their potential contribution to combating climate change.[4] Climate Official Development Aid (ODA), a small proportion of global climate finance flows is but one of the few sources with data on access to finance by gender. In 2022, just 3 per cent of all ODA on climate had gender equality-related objectives.[5] Out of the USD 2.4 billion of climate ODA channeled via civil society, only USD 43 million went to “feminist, women-led and women’s rights organizations and movements and institutions” most of them, from the global North, further highlighting the disparity for African women. The gender gap in access to finance in Africa is estimated at USD 42 billion and has widened in recent years.[6] Initiatives to bridge the gap provide relatively small amounts of financing compared to what is needed and the of the overall climate finance flows to female entrepreneurs.

Closing the gender financing gap in Africa and women’s participation in climate action calls for a multifaceted approach and collaborative efforts from governments, climate funds, financial institutions, civil society, women’s organizations, think tanks, and the private sector. This will strengthen coordination in mobilizing and delivering climate finance. Gender lens investing and gender responsive financing tools are imperative in amplifying their contributions to climate resilience and unlocking economic opportunities.

By Inzillia Sasi, Agri- Business Financial Consultant.


[1] OECD

[2] UNFCCC

[3] Climate Policy Initiative

[4] UN Women Africa

[5] UN Women Africa

[6] UN Women Africa

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