West Africa: Coastal management for climate change
CPCS supports the World Bank to identify and finance infrastructure projects protecting West African coastal areas against erosion, floods and pollution.
Challenge
Climate change causes real and severe damage to countries in West Africa. As such, the World Bank established the West Africa Coastal Areas Management Program (WACA) to make sure that infrastructure projects on the coastline are environmentally friendly.
WACA enlisted CPCS to help secure projects that can do just that.
Solutions
“WACA projects are technically and financially challenging,” says Hélène Larroque, legal consultant at CPCS. “Our goal is to find those green projects and related financing tools.”
How CPCS is undertook this project:
- Shortlisted coastal management projects in West Africa that may be attractive to private and public investors
- Trained WACA representatives on communication aspects and public-private partnership concepts
- Identified innovative financing mechanisms for these projects
- Performed a cost-benefit analysis for projects while taking into account the long-term benefits of coastal management
Impact
“West African countries need to preserve their beautiful coastline,” says Hélène.
By identifying the right projects, CPCS contributes in three ways:
- Help maintain sustainable growth for a population that accounts for 42 per cent of West Africa’s gross domestic product
- Minimize deleterious effects of climate change in West Africa
- Help preserve the coastline
