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
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