Mangroves, Madagascar. Credit: Rod Waddington
 
As part of the Great Blue Wall initiative, the goal is to safeguard 30% of the countries’ Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) by 2030, focusing on achieving a net gain in critical ecosystems such as mangroves, corals, and seagrasses.

By Jean-Paul Adam
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 24 2024 (IPS)

Securing new financing for global good has become more challenging than ever. Negotiations at the recently-concluded COP16 on Nature and Biodiversity failed to reach an agreement on establishing a fund to support the implementation of the Framework for Nature agreed in 2022 under the Montreal-Kunming agreement.

As with all multilateral action, commitments without resources lead to questions on the effectiveness of these global processes. The gap between global commitments and actual resource allocation hits African countries the hardest, as these countries often have limited capacity to generate those resources in the first place.

African negotiators have underscored the need for accountability in honouring multilateral commitments and will continue to maintain this stance at the upcoming climate negotiations.

Meanwhile, many African countries are actively seeking to unlock new funding streams for climate and environmental resilience through financial innovations such as debt swaps, green bonds, and blue bonds.

The Blue Economy has emerged as a key area of focus for Africa, and one of the priorities outlined in AU’s Agenda 2063. However, African countries continued to struggle in controlling and benefitting from their own resources.

A good example is the continuing deployment of harmful fisheries subsidies. The value of subsidies by distant fishing nations for their fleets operating in African waters representing on average twice the value of support that African nations are able to provide for their own fishing fleets.

This disparity undermines local economies and depletes Africa’s Ocean resources, further complicating efforts to build a sustainable and resilient blue economy.

The Great Blue Wall

African countries have sought to redefine the way in which they leverage their oceanic spaces to develop a ‘regenerative blue economy’. This implies re-investing in the ocean to create jobs that engage the community who are the stewards of oceans and coastal eco-systems.

This has been conceptualized through the Great Blue Wall initiative, an ambitious project that seeks to create a network of conserved and restored seascapes that benefit both the natural biodiversity and local communities’ livelihoods.

The initiative aims to protect 30% of the countries Exclusive Economic Zones by 2030 and produce a net gain in critical ecosystems like mangroves, corals and seagrasses. It is hoped that the initiative can contribute up to 70 million livelihoods in the region and up to 10 million blue jobs by 2030.

The Great Blue Wall initiative brings together 10 countries: Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, and France (through its overseas department of La Réunion). These countries are working together to enhance socio-ecological resilience, improve livelihoods, and strengthen climate change adaptation efforts.

Financing

Crucially, the initiative is seeking to raise financing towards a collective goal, while building on efforts being made by individual countries. This brings certain advantages, notably in creating economies of scale.

This common approach can also provide significant leverage in addressing issues such as fisheries management and moving away from the current extractive nature of fisheries subsidies to a community-led approach to the management of the resource.

Additionally, many other African countries are looking to tap into innovative climate finance opportunities to generate resources for investment in their blue economy.

For example, Cabo Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe have entered into agreements with Portugal to convert portions of their national debt into climate investments. For Cabo Verde, the agreement involves a debt swap of $12.9 million (€12 million), while São Tomé and Príncipe’s agreement covers $3.7 million (€3.5 million). These funds are redirected into climate investment projects rather than being paid directly to Portugal.

In Cabo Verde, the focus is on water, sanitation, and energy projects, including the expansion of a photovoltaic plant and the development of desalination and water treatment facilities. The initiative aims to use solar energy to produce desalinated water, addressing both energy and water needs.

São Tomé and Príncipe will similarly channel their debt repayments into a national climate fund, supporting various green investments and climate change adaptation projects.

This innovative approach ensures that the debt repayments contribute to sustainable development and environmental protection in these countries. While the amounts are relatively small, they can be catalysts for mobilizing larger funds.

It is with this in mind that Sao Tome and Principe have also announced the creation of a Conservation Trust Fund aimed at channeling resources into the preservation of their unique natural heritage and leveraging new associated economic opportunities such as eco-tourism.

All of these efforts to mobilize innovative climate financing are rooted in the needs of populations who are on the front line of climate change. This is perhaps the most meaningful part of these efforts, because it underscores the greatest challenge of multilateralism: ensuring that support is delivered to the most vulnerable in the community.

Investing in the nexus between climate, nature, and resilience is one of the most urgent and effective actions we can take. The right investments can help unlock the true value of Africa’s natural assets, estimated by the African Development Bank (AfDB) to be worth as much as USD $6.2 trillion.

We need global processes to deliver on the promise of predictable flows of finance at scale. However, equally important is the need to unlock African-driven initiatives that are built within communities. These innovations are helping to start that journey, paving the way for a meaningful change, empowering communities while addressing the challenges of climate change.

Jean-Paul Adam is the Director, Policy, Monitoring and Advocacy at the UN Office of the Special Adviser on Africa.

Source: Africa Renewal, United Nations

IPS UN Bureau

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A female orca splitting a herring bait ball while diving through it to get one. (Underwater Sea Scapes WINNER for 2023 Photo Competition The annual Photo Competition for UN World Oceans Day)

By Jean-Paul Adam
VICTORIA, Seychelles, Dec 13 2023 (IPS)

As an Islander from the Seychelles, Africa’s smallest country, I find that the ocean is intricately woven into my heritage. It not only defines my roots but also shapes the trajectory of my journey. When I think of the future, I can’t help but also look at the boundless possibilities reflected in the vast expanse of the ocean.

I am therefore encouraged that the growing trend of African leaders turning their attention to the ocean as a catalyst for achieving “climate positive growth”. This is the premise of the Nairobi Climate Action Summit, where African leaders emphasized that ‘Africa possesses both the potential and the ambition to be a vital component of the global solution to climate change’.

African leaders are emphasizing that ‘climate positive growth’ will be built by Africans, for Africans. Of course, support is needed – no one can achieve the scale of change needed without massive upscaling of investment.

Jean-Paul Adam

Spearheaded by African countries in the Western Indian Ocean, as outlined in the Moroni Declaration adopted in June 2023, the Great Blue Wall initiative aims to shield African countries from impacts of climate change and natural disasters uplifting and delivering economic empowerment to local coastal and island communities.

The existing industrialized fishing practices of distant nations is completely detached from the eco-system which supports the biomass and hence poses a threat. The Indian Ocean Tuna Commission has underlined overfishing of tuna species, especially the big-eye tuna and yellow-fin tuna.

At the same time, the warming ocean, increasing acidification of the water and consequent bleaching of coral reefs affects the availability of the prey species such as mackerel for the much-prized tunas.

Coastal African nations find themselves at risk, often reaping limited benefits from their marine resources, similar to challenges faced with mineral exports from the mainland. FAO and other UN agencies are working with African countries to allow them to reap more benefit from their marine resources.

The Great Blue Wall aims to conserve marine resources through Marine Protected Areas as well as empower local communities by boosting the sustainable fisheries value chain and establishing of additional economic opportunities through eco-tourism and related economic activities.

The 2022 Kunming-Montreal Framework on Biological Diversity delivered a global pledge to place 30% of the world’s oceans under protection-further reinforced by the 2023 adoption of an agreement on protecting marine biodiversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction.

A regenerative model also implies actively investing in the ocean for climate resilience. In this instance, mangroves in particular are nature’s best line of defense. Mangroves provide some of the most effective protections against coastal erosion, while they are also critical spawning grounds for numerous commercial fish species and crustaceans.

Marine-based eco-tourism is also one of the most valuable forms of economic activity to provide opportunities for local populations. These are some of the elements that underpin the transformation from ‘extraction’ to ‘regeneration’.

How does this fit into Africa’s drive for sustainable industrialization?

The Great Blue Wall not only offers a model for a ‘regenerative blue economy’ but also addresses broader challenges associated with Africa’s maritime space.

As Africa’s trade heavily relies on sea transport, ensuring climate-resistant port infrastructure becomes pivotal, most pressing is the development of Africa’s maritime corridors for trade to build on the promise of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Reliable and affordable energy is a key enabler of sustainable value chains. Opportunities exist for offshore wind energy, for example, as being explored by Morocco. Meanwhile, floating solar is being tested in Seychelles, while using the ocean temperature differential for cooling purposes is being piloted in Mauritius.

Financing the vision

As the Great Blue Wall envisions climate resilience built on community-focused economic empowerment, financing is key. The gap in climate finance is glaring- all the while conflicts divert resources away from climate and development priorities. The climate finance gap highlighted by the High Level Expert Panel on Climate Finance co-chaired by Nick Stern and Vera Songwe showed that $2.4 trillion was required by 2030.

Large-scale climate finance availability would allow the Great Blue Wall initiative to mobilize quickly and at scale. Additionally, the Great Blue Wall also aims to generate income streams that support communities, reducing dependency and helps to boost domestic resource mobilization.

Among these opportunities including tapping into the potential of ‘blue carbon’ or issuing carbon credits based on the sequestration potential of oceanic resources. Successful small scale projects such as Mikoko Pamoja in Kenya have delivered high quality results for local communities through mangrove rehabilitation.

Recognizing increased debt burdens of African countries, the opportunity to use debt swap instruments to replace existing expensive debt with more affordable longer-term lending could potentially liberate fiscal space to be redeployed to finance some of the priorities of the Great Blue Wall. The Seychelles debt for climate swap of 2015 for example delivered new and predictable flows of finance for marine conservation.

Looking ahead: COP28 and beyond

The Great Blue Wall has high-level political backing and is a priority for the African Union and its partners. Efforts are underway to expand its adoption to other African countries, connecting the ambitions of the countries along the Indian Ocean to those along the Atlantic.

At COP28, the focus was on mobilizing seed financing for this ambitious project which not only provides climate adaptation, but also seeks to fundamentally transform the economic model for management of marine resources.

The Great Blue Wall captures the essence of the ‘climate positive growth’ we hope to see.

Jean-Paul Adam is the Director, Policy, Monitoring and Advocacy at the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa, UN Secretariat in New York

Source: Africa Renewal

IPS UN Bureau

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