Earth Today | Adaptation Fund Board enhances access to climate finance

IN AN intersessional decision, the Adaptation Fund Board (AFB) has approved four new climate change adaptation projects across Latin America, West Africa, and Asia while endorsing another three project concepts with approved project formulation grants to develop them further.

The approvals amount to a little over US$35 million.

In a separate decision, the board approved a pilot south-to-south cooperation readiness support package which will enable its national implementing partner in Senegal (Centre de Suivi Ecologique, CSE) to provide tailored peer guidance to the governments of Burundi and Mali throughout the process of having national implementing entities in each of those countries apply for accreditation with the fund. The US$100,000 grant is aimed at enhancing access to climate finance for both countries.

The decisions were made by the board, which meets in person twice a year in Bonn, Germany, in March and October, through an online voting process.

Great News

"These decisions are great news for the most vulnerable countries to climate change that the Adaptation Fund serves," said AFB chair Victor Vinas.

"The projects are innovative and will help people on the ground with concrete actions, while creating valuable lessons that can be potentially scaled up in other areas that are similarly affected," he added.

Vinas said that he was also happy to see another great example of the fund's implementation of partners providing guidance and tips to neighbouring countries to help them through the accreditation process.

The pilot readiness support package builds upon the fund's South-South Grant Programme, which led to the successful accreditation of Banque Agricole du Niger, last year, following peer support provided to Niger by CSE. Both programmes are part of the fund's pioneering direct access modality, which strengthens developing country capacities to identify and develop adaptation projects and access climate finance directly through accredited national implementing entities (NIEs) based in the countries themselves.

"We have a growing community of 28 accredited NIEs throughout the world, which share their experiences, best practices, and lessons with both the accreditation and project development processes," said Mikko Ollikainen, manager of the AFB secretariat.

"This ultimately enhances access to climate finance and improves adaptation practices on the ground for the most vulnerable communities to climate change," he added.

Approved Grants

Project grants approved during the intersessional period include a US$2.4-million project in Ecuador to be implemented by the Development Bank of Latin America to strengthen adaptive capacity of local populations in the Toachi-Pilaton watershed with ecosystem- and community-based integrated adaptation approaches.

There is, too, among others, a US$4.5-million project in Mongolia by UN-Habitat to enhance climate resilience to flooding in seven vulnerable Ger (nomadic tent) settlements of Ulaanbaatar City, as well as reduce vulnerability to wind and dust storms, and air pollution.