Adaptation Fund Convenes Practitioners & Experts For Climate Finance Capacity Building

(Washington, DC, July 15, 2014) Today the Adaptation Fund kicks off the second seminar of its Readiness Programme for Climate Finance in Washington, DC, designed to strengthen the effective and fully-operational climate finance direct access model it has pioneered. This seminar is a three-day gathering convening stakeholders for lively and in-depth discussions about its climate finance project cycle, from project proposal design through approval, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

“This second seminar in our readiness series will foster more effective use of the Fund’s direct access modality. Participants from our implementing entities and external parties to share experiences and insights about capacity building throughout the project cycle, which will be invaluable for all,” remarked Laura Hanning Scarborough, vice-chair of the Adaptation Fund Board.

The Fund’s Readiness Seminar #2 on Climate Finance is being held July 15-17, bringing together experts from diverse organizations, including the the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the World Bank’s Climate Change Group, CARE, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB),the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Nature Conservancy, Conservation International (CI), German aid group GIZ, the Heinrich Boell Foundation, World Resources Institute (WRI), the United Nation’s Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Food Programme (WFP), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), and others.

Representatives from thirteen of the Fund’s accredited National Implementing Entities are at the workshop to share insights from their on-the-ground experiences, and glean insights in strengthening readiness for climate financing in their organizations, including: Argentina’s Unidad para el Cambio Rural (UCAR), Belize’s Protected Areas Conservation Trust (PACT), Benin’s Fonds National pour l’Environnement (FNE), Costa Rica’s Fundecooperación para el Desarrollo Sosentible, India’s National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development (NABARD), Jamaica’s Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), Kenya’s National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), Mexico’s Instituto Mexicano de Tecnología (IMTA), Peru’s Fondo de Promoción de las Areas Naturales Protegidas del Perú  (Profonanpe), Rwanda’s Ministry of Natural Resources (MINIREMA), Senegal’s Centre de Suivi Ecologique (CSE), and South Africa’s South African National Biological Institute (SANBI). Latin America’s Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF), a regional implementing entity of the Adaptation Fund, is also attending.

The Adaptation Fund’s Readiness Programme for Climate Finance aims to help strengthen the capacity of national and regional entities to receive and manage climate financing as they adapt and build resilience to changing climate conditions in sectors ranging from agriculture and food security to coastal zones and urban areas.

The Adaptation Fund’s direct access modality enables national and regional entities to directly access financing and manage all aspects of climate adaptation and resilience projects, from design through implementation and monitoring. The Fund has accredited sixteen national and four regional implementing entities, and has committed more than US$ 44 million to national implementing entities.

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The Adaptation Fund finances projects and programmes that help vulnerable communities in developing countries adapt to the negative effects of climate change. Initiatives are based on the country needs, views and priorities. The Adaptation Fund was established under the Kyoto Protocol of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and has committed US$ 226 million in 39 countries since 2010 to help vulnerable communities in developing countries adapt to climate change. The Fund is financed in part by government and private donors, and also from a two percent share of proceeds of Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) issued under the Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism projects.

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