Green Climate Fund announces nearly $700m for nations on the front lines of the climate crisis
The IFRC on Friday welcomed last week’s announcement by the Green Climate Fund of new worldwide finance that includes further “efforts to support nations on the front lines of the climate crisis with more early warnings – something the IFRC thinks crucial.”
The GCF board approved US$ 686 million (US$ 1.5 billion with co-financing) for for 11 projects in 42 countries that its news release said is expected to provide direct support to 115.5 million people and mitigate the equivalent or at least 45 million tonnes of CO₂.
One of the 11 projects encompasses, with UNDP, a multi-country push for the UN Early Warnings for All (EW4All) initiative.
“The IFRC will continue its efforts as a partner in [EW4All], which aims to ensure everyone on Earth is protected by early-warning systems by 2027,” IFRC Secretary General Jagan Chapagain said on X/Twitter.
The new projects include the first investments of their kind in Serbia to enhance forest resilience, and in Togo to strengthen the climate resilience of vulnerable communities.
‘If climate action is local action then the Green Climate Fund needs to be too’
The board also decided that the GCF – which is headquartered in Incheon, South Korea – will establish a regional presence to “enhance access to the fund and increase the climate impact of its projects.”
GCF Executive Director Mafalda Duarte said: “If climate action is local action – which it is – then the Green Climate Fund needs to be local too. Not only as a source of finance but as a partner working on the ground.”
The new money increases GCF’s total portfolio to nearly US$ 17 billion across 133 countries.
The GCF board co-chair, Leif Holmberg from Sweden, said: “During these challenging times, GCF is showing how countries are able to reaffirm their individual and collective commitment to accelerating support to climate-vulnerable communities … In addition, the fund’s partnerships with the private sector continue to mobilize critical additional resources.”
’Transformational’
The Green Climate Fund – part of the financial mechanism of the UNFCCC – is the world’s largest fund dedicated to climate, fostering “a paradigm shift towards low-emission, climate-resilient development pathways in developing countries,” it says.
Through UNEP the GCF currently supports the Climate Centre with Red Cross work on anticipatory action in Timor Leste and five Pacific islands.
Climate Centre Director Aditya Bahadur said today: ”This much-needed investment is key to ensuring that these transformational initiatives can help the most vulnerable communities across the world better address the impacts of a changing climate.
”It also recognizes anticipatory action and EW4All as key mechanisms through which the impacts of climate change can be ameliorated.”
Farmer Piri Metua, 53, with his newly washed taro crop at his smallholding on Mangaia, a Cook Island and with the Marshall Islands, Niue, Palau, and Tuvalu one of five Pacific nations where the Climate Centre and the Red Cross is being assisted by the GCF to boost adaptation, including food security and anticipatory action. The swampy soil where taro thrives is drying out and Metua has had to adapt by planting other crops to feed his seven children. (Library photo: Benoit Matsha-Carpentier/IFRC)
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