Business leaders in Africa and South Asia believe that the international community needs to redouble its efforts to support countries that are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate emergency.
This was disclosed by CDC Group, United Kingdom’s development finance firm, in a report released on Thursday.
The report, which was seen by Nairametrics, is titled CDC Emerging Economies Climate Report 2021.
What the report is saying
It stated, “The majority of entrepreneurs and business owners in less developed economies in Africa and South Asia believed that climate change was already impacting their businesses and hiring decisions.”
The findings were provided by the leaders of some of the 1,200 companies and funds within CDC’s portfolio.
Highlights of findings of the report:
- 94% of respondents said that the international community had a duty to support emerging markets to address the impacts of climate change.
- But only 12% agreed that the international community was doing enough to support emerging markets to address climate change impacts.
- 78% said that all international investment in emerging markets has to support the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
- 86% said climate change would negatively impact their business over the next decade
- Overall, respondents believed the private sector and public sector were equally placed to combat climate change effectively.
- Overall, more respondents were optimistic than pessimistic, that the world can act together to effectively combat climate change.
Some of the least developed nations in the world are already pouring scarce resources into combating the impact of the climate emergency.
Vera Songwe, Executive Secretary for the UN’s Commission for Africa, estimates that African nations will be spending about 15% of their GDP to respond to climate change.
CDC has invested over $1 billion in climate finance since 2017 and is one of the largest investors in renewables in Africa. From this year forward, at least 30 per cent of its commitments by value will be made in renewable energy providers and other businesses in the forefront of the battle against climate change.
Amal-Lee Amin, Director, Climate Change, CDC, said: “The realities of the climate emergency inform every investment decision we now make at CDC. Development finance institutions, such as CDC, are doing everything they can to increase investments needed to increase climate resiliency of less developed countries that are most vulnerable to climate risk and impacts.
“But this is by no means a lost cause. We have every reason to believe that sufficient investment in innovative solutions will help the developing world adapt to the impacts of the climate crisis.”
The survey was carried out by CDC and our partners at Imperial College London. The questions and format of the survey were structured around and inspired by the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), which provides an international framework to help companies disclose climate-related risks and opportunities.
