Africa gets climate change fundingFriday 19 May 2006A new $65m research programme aimed at helping some of the poorest people in Africa cope with the effects of climate change has been launched this week by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID). Serious problems such as flooding, crop failure, drought and soil erosion are some of the issues caused by the extreme conditions that climate change produces, and the poorest communities - those least equipped to respond - are most often those worst affected. The DFID and IDRC research will back the five year multi-national partnership, the Climate Change Adaptation in Africa Programme (CCAA), which aims to improve the understanding of combating global warming across the continent. "Many of the world's poorest people are the most vulnerable to increasingly frequent hazards such as flooding and droughts brought about by climate change. We need the best possible information about how to adapt to the impacts of climate change if we are to achieve our goals of reducing poverty in Africa,” said Secretary of State for International Development Hilary Benn. "The challenges of climate change and development in Africa are closely linked so the research programme that we're announcing today will help provide African countries with both the science and practical measures needed to help the poorest be resilient to climate change. It will also give the wider international community the best insight into how it can continue to support climate change adaptation across the continent." "It is critical that Africans shape the research that can best respond to the continent's real needs in the area of climate change adaptation. IDRC's regional presence in Africa will help make African leadership of this programme a practical reality, with staff to be based in Nairobi, Dakar, and Cairo. Advisory expertise will be of the highest calibre, drawn from across the continent and internationally," added Maureen O'Neil, President of IDRC. |
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