TEMPO.CO, Washington DC - The Global Environment Facility or GEF supports the V20's program with a climate adaptation fund of $5.3 million for community-based adaptation activities. They will also leverage funding from other sources including those that will provide complementary support to address loss and damage from climate change.

The 58 member countries of the Vulnerable Twenty (V20) Group are at the frontlines of the climate change problem has lost 20% of GDP growth (US$525 billion) over the last two decades (2000-2019) due to climate-fueled risks. In response, the V20 Group proposed a funding program to deliver multilateral resources to front-line communities to address, avert and minimize the impacts of climate change on those most vulnerable. The proposal, which will support adaptation initiatives in the V20 member countries, secured initial funding of US$5.3 million from the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) and Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) Council at its 33rd meeting on December 2, as stated in the press release received by Tempo on Dec. 15.

Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister for Finance for the Republic of Ghana & Chair of the V20 Group welcomed the partnership with GEF. "We have to take a proactive approach towards doubling adaptation resources by 2025 and ensuring the delivery of resources to frontline communities, enterprises, and economies”, he highlighted in confirmation of the call made by the V20 Ministers of Finance during the Ninth V20 Ministerial Dialogue that was convened in Washington DC in October 2022.

He added that “through the GEF, particularly through the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF), the V20 Group aims to mobilize additional resources for climate change adaptation to boost the adaptive capacity in the LDC countries. This is to ensure that we leave no vulnerable community and economy behind”.

According to the V20 Chair, the evolution of the program must include increased mobilization of resources from the GEF’s Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) to secure finance for climate change adaptation for non-LDC climate-vulnerable countries. He, therefore, urged the donors of the GEF to scale up resources for both the LDCF and the SCCF to support the economic transformation of climate-vulnerable countries which has been necessitated by the climate crisis amongst other global emergencies.

Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson of the Global Environment Facility added that the GEF-managed LDCF and SCCF have an important role in serving the Paris Agreement, which has established a global goal of adaptation to enhancing adaptive capacity, strengthening resilience, and reducing vulnerability to climate change. “We commend the decision of the LDCF/SCCF Council to allocate resources to bolster adaptive capacity, strengthen resilience, and reduce vulnerability to climate change in climate-vulnerable countries. By supporting adaptation in V20 countries through micro and community level projects, impacts of climate change will be averted and minimized,” he said. “This is a step in the right direction but compared to the scale of adaptation needed in V20 countries, this funding allocation is modest, and this is where the role of donors becomes critical in further boosting their contributions for the LDCF and SCCF”.

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), an agency of the GEF, will administer this LDCF and SCCF-funded project. The initial investment of the V20 Funding Program will support a range of adaptation interventions across themes such as agriculture, water, climate information services, and disaster risk reduction including the repair and reconstruction of community infrastructure impacted by extreme weather events to build back better standards.

The project will fund selected projects from community groups, civil society organizations, and small enterprises with proven and high-impact innovative climate change adaptation-oriented technologies and solutions that can be replicated elsewhere. In doing so, the project will enhance the capacity of decision-makers and beneficiaries to implement adaptation action by raising awareness of key stakeholders on climate change vulnerability, strengthening distribution and support channels for adaptation technologies and services, and generating and disseminating knowledge including South-South exchange.

Gerd Müller, Director General of UNIDO, added, “This new funding program builds on our collaboration with V20 that is focused on low-emission and climate-resilient industrial development in V20 member states.”

The LDCF and SCCF-supported V20 Funding Program which was approved just after COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh will directly contribute to the adaptation priorities of the Sharm El-Sheikh Implementation Plan. It marks a strong collaboration between the GEF, the V20 Group, UNIDO, and other field-based partners to support locally-led adaptation projects which will start in 2023.*)

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