June 2023 - First edition

Resource Mobilization Newsletter

Updates on Contributions

Welcome, partners and contributors, to the new quarterly newsletter with updates on the Adaptation Fund's resource mobilization and the impact that your contributions make for beneficiaries on the ground.

Your support helps the Adaptation Fund to continue fulfilling its mandate and its mission to accelerate adaptation action and enhanced access to finance for the most vulnerable communities in developing countries.

Your contributions to the Adaptation Fund directly support the implementation of the Paris Agreement. Parties to the Paris Agreement in 2022 underscored "the urgency of scaling up financial resources, including the provision of voluntary support, that are additional to the share of proceeds levied on certified emission reductions in order to support the resource mobilization efforts of the Adaptation Fund Board with a view to strengthening the Adaptation Fund" (Decision 18/CMA. 4).

Adaptation Fund Impact at a Glance

In its over 15 years of operation, the Fund has committed over US$ 1 billion for 155 concrete, localized projects in more than 100 developing countries, serving over 40 million total beneficiaries around the world.

In terms of the regional distribution of the Fund's portfolio, the largest share of funding has been to the Africa region (42%), followed by Asia-Pacific (28%) and Latin America and the Caribbean (26%), as well as Eastern Europe (3%).

The Fund supports a substantial portfolio of projects in Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) worldwide.

This reinforces the Fund's pioneering role in direct access and the commitment to helping vulnerable developing countries take full responsibility over their adaptation priorities.

For more information on results and impact, read the 2022 Annual Performance Report

Meet the Adaptation Fund at the

SB58 Bonn Climate Change Conference

The Adaptation Fund will be present at the 58th sessions of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Bodies (SB58) and is available for bilateral meetings to share any updates and information on the Fund's progress and next steps.

Kindly check out the AF SB58 website and reach out to the AFB secretariat to schedule a meeting:

[email protected]

Updates from the 40th Meeting of the Adaptation Fund Board

At its last meeting on 23 - 24 March 2023 in Bonn, Germany, the Adaptation Fund Board took important decisions to increase the Fund's ambition and meet rising demand for resources from the Fund.

The Board approved an ambitious Implementation Plan for the new Medium-Term Strategy (2023 - 2027), with its three pillars of Action, Innovation, and Learning and Sharing, and new crosscutting emphasis on locally led action and scaling up results.

The Board adopted a streamlined and simplified proposal submission process to process an increasing amount of proposals. Proposals can now be submitted on a rolling basis.

The Board set a new resource mobilization target responding to the increasing demand for funding reflected in the active pipeline of projects worth over US$ 380 million.

<< Click here for full press release >>

Latest Project Stories

PROJECT STORY INNOVATION

Floating farms are transforming life on waterways in India & Bangladesh

Sundarbans in southern India and Bangladesh are now experiencing the force of climate change due to regular extreme weather events and the devastating impacts of cyclones.

Through the Adaptation Fund Climate Innovation Accelerator (AFCIA) programme, the Fund is supporting a trial of floating farms run by the South Asian nature Forum for Environment (SAFE).

PORTFOLIO MONITORING MISSIONS

The Adaptation Fund visited project sites in West Africa & Armenia

In November and December 2022, the Fund conducted a mission to the Volta Basin for a regional project implemented by WMO in six West African countries. A similar mission was conducted in April 2023 in Armenia targeting projects being implemented by the Environmental Project Implementation Unit.

These missions help the Fund collect insights and evidence on the impacts and results of its projects on the ground.

<< Read the report of project monitoring mission to the Volta Basin here>>

LOCALLY LED ADAPTATION

Enhanced Direct Access (EDA) Workshop in Rwanda

The Adaptation Fund prides itself as an early adopter of locally led adaptation (LLA). Its dedicated EDA funding window ensures that NIEs empower local actors in adaptation projects.

Under its readiness programme, the Fund organizes training workshops on EDA for NIEs to exchange knowledge on successful project design and modalities for LLA. The latest training was held in Kigali, Rwanda on 9-11 May 2023.

<<Read the study on the AF's support for Locally Led Adaptation here >>

Carbon Markets Developments:

Share of Proceeds for the Adaptation Fund

The Adaptation Fund is the only multilateral climate fund that can channel innovative finance sources, such as revenues from international carbon markets, to concrete adaptation. The Fund has many years of experience with carbon markets, receiving a 2% share of Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) through the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The Fund is therefore institutionally ready to receive and programme resources from evolving carbon markets.

Article 6 of the Paris Agreement

The Fund will receive a 5% share of proceeds from transactions under the Paris Agreement’s Article 6.4 carbon market mechanism (Decision 3/CMA.3). In addition, Parties and stakeholders using cooperative approaches are encouraged to make voluntary contributions to the AF (Decision 2/CMA.3).The Article 6.4 market mechanism is still in the process of being operationalized, with the earliest possible issuance of proceeds expected at the end of 2024. Once the Fund receives the first share of proceeds, it will transition from the Kyoto Protocol to exclusively serve the Paris Agreement.

Carbon Principles for Voluntary Carbon Markets

The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) launched its Core Carbon Principles and Program-level Assessment Framework, setting a rigorous benchmark for high-integrity carbon credits. The Core Carbon Principles include a recommendation that 5% of the revenue from carbon credits be made to the Adaptation Fund.

Latest Publications

KNOWLEDGE PRODUCT

Scaling up adaptation finance: Experiences and lessons learned from the Adaptation Fund portfolio of projects

Enabling the scaling up of AF projects by other adaptation funders is a new strategic emphasis in the second Medium-Term Strategy (2023 - 2027).

<< Read the publication on the Fund's experience with scaling up successful adaptation projects from project portfolio here >>

KNOWLEDGE PRODUCT

Lessons learned from the Adaptation Fund Experience in Strengthening Long-term Resilience Through Food Security

Food security is one of the Fund's key adaptation sectors in line with the urgent needs of developing countries which face a worsening global food crisis that is exacerbated by climate change.

<< Read the report on lessons learned on transformative adaptation projects in the food security sector >>

BLOG

Adaptation Fund fosters nature-based solutions and ecosystem-based adaptation

Adaptation Fund projects in Seychelles and Armenia that build ecosystem resilience on the ground.

<< Read the blog post here >>

Save the Date - Upcoming Resource Mobilization Events

AF 2023 High-Level Contributor Dialogue

to take place during the

COP28 Climate Change Conference in Dubai, UAE

(30 Nov - 12 Dec 2023)

Contact: [email protected]