| Abstract |
Climate change is arguably one of the World's gravest environmental and developmental challenge that has subsequently necessitated a re-contextualisation of many seemingly unrelated subjects such as poverty reduction, economic development, green growth, sustainability, equity and justice, trade, technology, investments and finance, and innovation. In Africa, managing climate change is hampered by Africa's adaptation deficit as caused by a lack of institutional, financial or technological capacity to adapt effectively; and a lack of effective delivery mechanisms to channel climate finance resources at the sub-national level, particularly to target the poor who are also often the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. In-order to encourage debate and discussion on the role to which microfinance may have in improving climate change mitigation and adaptation, this paper expounds upon the Microfinance-Climate Finance Framework that was shortlisted for the 2014 UNDP MDG Carbon Climate Finance Innovation Award. The paper shows that microfinance institutions in Africa may be sustainable mechanisms for financing climate change initiatives whilst promoting rural development and financial inclusion. Additionally, successfully adapting to climate change requires policy makers to focus on empowering the youth to transform them into ( social) entrepreneurs capable of reducing social marginalisation and youth unemployment. |
