Washington DC, June 24, 2010 – The Adaptation Fund Board took another major step forward when it approved the first four proposals of concrete adaptation projects in its meeting on June 14-16 in Bonn, Germany including one by Centre de Suivi Ecologique, a national implementing entity from Senegal.
“Today, we have translated into reality our collective quest for direct access,” said Farrukh Khan, Chairman of the Adaptation Fund Board at the concluding session. “Our job, though, is not finished. From my perspective, this is the first step and the long road is yet before us but what makes the difference is that today we know where we are headed. The four proposals approved by the Board included one by Nicaragua, Pakistan, Senegal and the Solomon Islands each, with a total proposed value of USD 21.8 million.
The proposal by the Government of Senegal through Centre de Suivi Ecologique is the first one to make use of the ground-breaking direct access modality of the Adaptation Fund. In this arrangement, a national organization that has illustrated that it meets the fiduciary standards set by the Fund, can submit proposals to and receive funds from the Adaptation Fund as a National Implementing Entity. The other three project concepts were submitted through the more conventional path also available in the Fund, where the United Nations Development Programme acts as a Multilateral Implementing Entity.
The Board also approved a Results Based Management and Evaluation Framework that will help enhance the effectiveness of the Adaptation Fund project portfolio.
The Adaptation Fund Board also accredited four new Multilateral Implementing Entities that had been recommended by the Accreditation Panel consisting of Board members and independent experts. These entities include the Asian Development Bank, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the United Nations Environment Programme, and the United Nations World Food Programme.
The Adaptation Fund is a self-standing fund established under the Kyoto Protocol of the UN Climate Change Convention, which gets the main part of its funding from a two percent share of proceeds of all Certified Emission Reductions issued under the Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism projects. The Fund is designed to finance concrete climate change adaptation projects and programs based on the needs, views and priorities of developing countries. The Global Environment Facility provides secretariat services to the Adaptation Fund and the World Bank serves as its trustee, both on an interim basis.