One Bank Is Turning Africa’s Climate Vulnerability Into Opportunity

Africa currently loses between $7 billion and $15 billion a year because of climate change. If that trend continues, African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina tells the Zero podcast, that number could reach $50 billion by 2030.

That’s why Adesina is focusing the bank’s efforts on financing climate adaptation, which he describes as the “forgotten cousin” of climate mitigation. Adesina says it’s crucial that development goals and green goals go hand in hand. “You need a world that is climate-resilient, but the bread-and-butter issues of development cannot wait for that,” he says. In other words, “Africa cannot be poor green. Africa needs to be rich green.”