Aid, Environment and Climate Change – A SynthesisWisdom AkpaluState University of New York

Traditional role of aid should continue...

• Aid should continue to play its traditional role • In addition aid should go to LIC and MIC as poverty

is now wide spread. – It is more depressing to be poor and live among the

rich than among poor peers.

Emerging challenges…

• The changing climate pose yet a critical challenge to the world

• Low-income countries cannot internally generate the critical resources needed for adaptation or mitigate climate impact.

• Funds at the global level are moving away from local environmental issues (i.e., mainly adaptation) to trans-boundary issues (i.e., mainly mitigation)

• But adaptation and mitigation issues are intertwine

Constraints facing developing countries

• Even more serious is that LIC and MIC are failing to take advantage of the funding opportunities (REDD+, CDM, GEF, GCF)

• Why?:– Limited knowledge of biophysical and

management sciences – Demand uncertainties – Forest based, and not all countries are well

endowed– Weak institutions, including bad governance

What should foreign aid do?

• Build institutions– independent academic institutions

• Support collaborative research with capacity building objectives – Support community level adaptation and mitigation

projects– Carry out frequent socio-economic studies to assess

aid impacts. – Tie Aid to good governance indicators

THANK YOU