ADAPTATION FINANCE BULLETIN | |
UNFCCC Adaptation Committee | |
News from the Adaptation Fund | |
Photo credit: Adaptation Fund | |
Adaptation Fund Board approves USD 58 million in new adaptation projects and programmes | |
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The Adaptation Fund Board's 41st meeting, held from 12 to 13 October in Bonn, Germany, saw the approval of USD 58 million in new adaptation projects and programmes.
This sum includes USD 20 million approved under the Adaptation Fund Climate Innovation Accelerator (AFCIA) small grants programme. Specifically, the World Food Programme and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization will each receive USD 10 million as new AFCIA partners, who can then administer small grants (up to USD 250,000 each) to a range of local actors in support of innovation in adaptation.
Five concrete projects were approved at the meeting, supporting adaptation action ranging from increasing resilience to water scarcity in the agricultural sector in Libya to building resilient housing in vulnerable communities in Lao People's Democratic Republic. Projects were also approved in Peru, the Central African Republic, and Belize.
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News from the Global Environment Facility | |
Photo credit: Emma Gossett on Unsplash | |
New global biodiversity fund launched | |
GEF Council endorses initiatives on knowledge management and policy coherence | |
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The new Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF) was launched at the Global Environment Facility’s Seventh Assembly, which took place in Vancouver, Canada from 22-26 August 2023.
Canada and the United Kingdom both announced initial contributions to initiate the capitalization of the Fund. This included CAD 200 million and GBP 10 million, respectively.
The ratification and launch of the Fund followed eight months after the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity agreed on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and decided to set up the new Fund.
The new fund is expected to mobilize new and additional resources from public, private, and philanthropic sources, with a focus on the sustainability of biodiversity and ecosystems.
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The 65th meeting of the Global Environment Facility's governing body, the GEF Council, endorsed two new initiatives: a strategy for knowledge management and learning, and an approach to enhance policy coherence through operations.
The knowledge management strategy will facilitate sharing lessons learned from GEF-funded projects and programs in a more systematic way. The initiative on policy coherence, meanwhile, aims to ensure that measures to support nature renewal and protection are not undone by efforts that destroy or damage countries’ natural resources.
Additionally, the Council decided on the dates for three meetings in 2024.
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News from the Green Climate Fund | |
Final GCF Board meeting of 2023 approves 15 projects totaling USD 736 million | |
High-Level Pledging Conference for the second replenishment of the GCF | |
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The Board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) met for the final time in 2023 from 23-25 October in Tbilisi, Georgia. In total, 15 projects were approved by the Board during the meeting, including 8 adaptation-focused projects and 5 cross-cutting adaptation-mitigation projects. These approved projects totaled USD 736.4 million, and, when co-financing is included, USD 3.6 billion.
Approved adaptation projects will contribute to, for example, strengthening the climate resilience of the health system in the Lao People's Democratic Republic, scaling up climate resilient flood risk management in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and enhancing climate information systems for resilient development in Sierra Leone.
The next meeting of the Board will take place from 4-7 March 2024 in Kigali, Rwanda.
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During the High-Level Pledging Conference of the GCF for the second replenishment, 25 countries pledged USD 9.3 billion to support the Fund over the next four years (2024-2027). The conference took place in Bonn, Germany on 5 October 2023.
The full list of contributors is available here.
The Fund urges further contributions from other countries in the coming weeks.
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Photo credit: Flathead Agency/BIA / | |
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UNICEF Venture Fund announces investments in startups leveraging frontier technologies to strengthen climate resilience
UNICEF has announced an investment in eight startups that are leveraging frontier technologies to address climate-related issues facing young people. Following an open call by the UNICEF Venture Fund in early 2023, more than 400 companies applied. The Fund's first Climate Tech Cohort includes a wide range of solutions.
For example, one startup included in the cohort is using big data and machine learning to deliver climate risk information and facilitate disaster preparedness in vulnerable communities in Cameroon. Another startup supported through the Fund is developing an early warning system using machine learning and low-cost sensors to assess risk levels and mitigate the effects of disasters in Timor Leste. In Uganda, the Fund is supporting a startup that is building a blockchain-based insurance platform to improve insurance accessibility for smallholder farmers during climate disasters.
Startups in the Climate Tech Cohort are eligible to receive up to USD 100,000 plus technical assistance to build their prototype.
| News from the Least Developed Countries Expert Group | |
Efforts of the Least Developed Countries in implementing adaptation projects
A recent report published by the Least Developed Countries Expert Group (LEG) highlights the efforts of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in implementing adaptation projects under the national adaptation programmes of action (NAPAs), national adaptation plans and related programmes through the financial mechanism of the Convention, which serves the Paris Agreement.
Prepared in the context of recognizing the adaptation efforts of developing country Parties, the report considers the adaptation projects implemented by the LDCs based primarily on their NAPAs, as well as other available instruments. It provides an overview of the support provisions, including funding, for the LDCs for adaptation under the Convention and the Paris Agreement, and offers a synthesis of lessons learned based on the analysis.
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Updates from other constituted bodies under the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement | |
- The Adaptation Committee held its 24th meeting from 10-13 October 2023 in Bonn, Germany. Its agenda included consideration of an updated draft reference paper on methodologies for reviewing the adequacy and effectiveness of adaptation and support, prepared jointly with the LEG, in collaboration with the Standing Committee on Finance (SCF).
- The SCF held its 32nd meeting from 26-28 September 2023 in Geneva, Switzerland. Among other things, the SCF was invited to finalize its report on the doubling of adaptation finance.
- The Paris Committee on Capacity Building agreed that its 2024 annual focus area will be capacity-building support for adaptation, with a focus on addressing gaps and needs related to accessing finance for national adaptation plans. The focus area will be implemented in close coordination with the Adaptation Committee, the LEG, and other constituted bodies.
- Regional gatherings were held under the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform in the Arctic and Pacific regions. These gatherings included various sessions that touched on adaptation, climate finance, and other related topics.
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Spotlight on UN Secretary-General's Climate Ambition Summit | |
Photo credit: UN Photo/Mark Garten | |
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The UN Secretary-General’s Climate Ambition Summit, held on 20 September 2023 in New York, convened "first mover and doer" leaders from governments, businesses, financial institutions, local authorities, and civil society worldwide.
Leaders at the Summit agreed that efforts on adaptation planning, implementation, and finance were failing to keep pace with the increasing severity and frequency of climate change impacts. The High-Level Session on Delivering Climate Justice: Accelerating Ambition and Implementation on Adaptation and Early Warnings for All included the launch of two new partnerships aiming to deliver adaptation finance at pace and scale as part of the Secretary-General's Adaptation Pipeline Accelerator. These partnerships - the Tuvalu-Australia and Dominican Republic-Spain partnerships - seek to provide a platform for governments, financiers and other stakeholders to transform developing countries' adaptation priorities into a pipeline of projects that attract public and private investment.
The specific scale and scope of support will be determined following the development of a comprehensive economy-wide adaptation plan with robust costing and a feasible investment plan. Subsequently, the lead donor country will mobilize support from public and private investors, domestically and internationally. Additional support will be delivered through a collaborative effort facilitated by the United Nations Development Programme, the NDC Partnership, and the Green Climate Fund.
Another focus of the session was the Secretary-General's Early Warning Systems for All (EW4All) Initiative. Multilateral Development Banks, through a joint statement during the session, committed to work together to support the initiative, and the GCF committed to provide up to USD 1 billion to support the initiative's implementation if its second replenishment is successful.
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