The European Union and four of its member states will contribute one billion euros to help the African continent adapt to climate change, European Commissioner Frans Timmermans announced yesterday at the Conference on Climate Change (COP27).

"Together, the European Union and four member states - France, Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark - will donate more than 1 billion euros to support adaptation in Africa," revealed the also vice president of the European Commission during the conference taking place in Egypt.

This initiative should mobilize new and existing programs, according to a statement made in parallel by the European Commission, without specifying how new it is.

The commissioner, quoted by Lusa, detailed that the fund will serve to collect data on climate risks, strengthen early warning systems to prevent populations from imminent disasters, help mobilize the financial sector - including the private sector - on the climate issue, and strengthen safety mechanisms in the face of unavoidable risks.

A part of this money will be channeled to losses and damages already suffered by the African continent, the vice president of the European Commission underlined, touching on a fractious point of COP27.