NAIROBI, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- The UN will assist county governments across Africa in setting up climate change funds in order to build the region's climate change resilience, an official said on Wednesday.
The UN Environment Program (UNEP) Regional Climate Change Coordinator Richard Munang told Xinhua in Nairobi that with climate change already affecting the African continent today, looking for external resources will not solve the problem because the continent needs 50 billion U.S. dollars every year to combat the phenomenon.
"As the UN, we will provide technical assistance to county governments to build climate change funds," Munang said on the sidelines of the 2017 Africa Food Security and Agri-Exhibition.
UNEP is already working with Makueni County to set up a climate change fund, which is located approximately 130 km southwest of Kenya's capital of city Nairobi.
Makueni will be the first county in Africa to set up a climate fund to address the social economic challenges associated with the phenomenon.
The UNEP plans to roll out climate funds across 40 countries in Africa.
Munang said that the funds will source money locally from public resources.
"We want to debunk the mentality that climate funds have to depend on external donor funding," he added.
According to the UNEP official, the wind of devolution is blowing across the continent.
"Kenya has a devolved system of government. So if one is to address climate change, county governments must take the lead," he added.
Munang said that the funds will not be used as a social development fund as there will be limited return on investment.
"The fund should be used as a risk sharing facility in order to incentivize commercial banks and micro-finance institutions to lend to entities engaged in environmentally sustainable activities," he added.
