COP19 (18/11/13) – Kurt Lonsway, Manager in the Environment and Climate Change Division of the African Development Bank talks about financing climate change mitigation and adaptation projects in Africa.

He says the African Development Bank is a regional development bank which focuses exclusively on Africa.

Lonsway says typically the Bank finances $4-5 billion of investments every year. Although they are a major regional development bank a lot of their work is focussed on leverage finances from other sources in order to finance some of the other projects that they do.

He says that the Bank has just developed a 10 year strategy. The two focus points of their strategy is on green growth – or a gradual transition to green growth – and inclusive growth – meaning that growth should benefit everyone.

He says the Bank still finances conventional types of projects that deal with coal and oil resources but it is trying to develop a greener and cleaner portfolio. For example, it led the work on adaptation financing and up until 2012, mobilised approximately $2.2. billion for both mitigation and adaptation projects.