African Dev’t Bank finalises design on climate-sensitive sectors

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has informed its staff on the final design of its Climate Safeguards System (CSS).

The CSS is expected to be fully operational before the end of 2012, according to the Bank.

In a statement, the Bank said it also raised awareness on the benefit and application of the CSS for AfDB investments in climate-sensitive sectors- agriculture, infrastructure (roads), energy and water.

“The Bank is taking the lead among multilateral development banks (MDBs) in developing a Climate Safeguards System. This constitutes an important breakthrough towards addressing climate change vulnerability in Africa,” said Al Hamdou Dorsouma, AfDB Principal Climate Change Specialist.

The CSS delivers on a key objective of the Bank’s Climate Risk Management and Adaptation (CRMA) strategy to mainstream climate screening and adaptation in Bank projects. It enables the Bank to address climate change risks in key climate-sensitive sectors at an early stage in the project cycle.

The meeting brought together many operations experts from across the Bank and advanced discussions on next steps for CSS, including additional training for regional member countries and AfDB field offices, links with other internal systems such as the Bank’s new Integrated Safeguard System (ISS), and opportunities for enhanced partnership with sister organizations, including (MDB) to harmonize climate mainstreaming approaches.

The CSS has four modules: climate screening to assess for vulnerability; adaptation review and evaluation procedures to identify adaptation measures for a project; country adaptation factsheets with climate projections and country indicators, and an information base giving access to information sources on adaptation.

By Ekow Quandzie