(Africa Development Bank) Global finance mechanisms such as the Green Climate Fund and the Global Environmental Facility must support Africa to adapt to climate change and stop the displacement of public spending caused by climate change, African Development Bank Group President, Akinwumi Adesina, told the United Nations climate conference, which ended on November 18. 
“Words of comfort are not enough to pay Africa’s rising bills for adapting to climate change,” said Adesina, who was addressing the African Heads of State and dignitaries attending the Africa Action Summit hosted by the King of Morocco on the sidelines of the 22nd Conference of the Parties (COP22) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Marrakech.
The Africa Action Summit brought together 50 Heads of State and Government, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, as well as representatives of international organizations.
Addressing the Summit, Adesina specifically called on global finance mechanisms to pay for the premiums of African countries to the African Risk Capacity, the mechanism developed by African countries to help them cope with extreme weather events, through insurance for catastrophic events. He observed that “the insurance premiums are not cheap and this has continued to discourage African countries from insuring themselves against the rising catastrophic risks.”