Belize: Belize marine Conservation and Climate Adaptation Initiative (World Bank) (BIZ/MIE/Coastal/2011/1, US $10,000,000)

Having considered the comments and recommendations of the Project and Programme Review Committee, the Adaptation Fund Board decided to:

(a) Not endorse the project concept, as supplemented by the clarification response provided by the World Bank to the request made by the technical review;

(b) Request that the World Bank reformulates the proposal taking into account the following issues:

(i) The use of funds from the Adaptation Fund for the creation of a trust fund is entirely unprecedented and presents a risk from the perspective that the Marine Conservation and Climate Adaptation Trust (MCCAT) will not achieve its outcome, be replenished with sufficient funds to operate, and finance projects that align with the Adaptation Fund‟s results framework guidance. While the Board welcomes innovative approaches to adaptation and it is likely that the MCCAT, once established, would support adaptation measures, the proponent should place more or all emphasis on the marine conservation activities of the project;

(ii) The proponent should clarify which indicators would be used to monitor project performance;

(iii) The concept does not contain sufficient information to assess the costeffectiveness of the proposed interventions, inter alia the size, scope, and area of sites; and the cost of the measures appears to be high given the intended outcome; and

(iv) To bridge the gap between marine conservation and adaptation benefits, the sites should be established around the most vulnerable shorelines and consequently it is crucial to know where marine protected areas/no-take zones (MPA/NTZ) will be established.

(c) Further request the World Bank to transmit the observations referred to under item (b) above to the Government of Belize, on the understanding that a revised concept might be submitted at a later date.