Adaptation Fund Board Approves US$ 5.64 Million for Direct Access Project in Argentina

(Bonn, Germany, 5 April 2013) – At its twentieth meeting in Bonn, which concluded Friday 5 April, the Adaptation Fund Board approved US$ 5.64 million for a climate change adaptation project in Argentina.  The project aims to increase the adaptive capacity of small-scale agricultural producers in the face of climate change and climate variability impacts, particularly those deriving from the increase in the intensity of hydrometeorological events.  The project, the second approved for Argentina, will be implemented by the Unit for Rural Change through the innovative direct access modality that allows accredited national entities to access finance for adaptation projects from the Adaptation Fund.  This brings the total approved grant funding for adaptation projects to US$ 184.4 million since 2010. The Board also endorsed a direct access project concept submitted by another accredited national entity, the Ministry of Natural Resources of Rwanda, and approved a grant for developing a full project proposal.

The Board reviewed and noted the recommendation of three projects submitted by Multilateral Implementing Entities, for which funding is not currently available.  These projects seek to address urgent climate change adaptation needs in Uzbekistan, Belize and Ghana, and will be placed in the pipeline made operational in the last Board meeting in December.  The Board discussed the problematic state of the dwindling revenues it receives from carbon markets and the need to seek contributions from other sources in order to fund the projects in the pipeline.  The recently established fundraising task force of the Board reported on its progress in developing a fundraising strategy with a view to raising US$ 100 million by the end of the calendar year.

During its meeting, the Board engaged in a dialogue with civil society organizations chaired by the independent Adaptation Fund NGO Network. Mr Alpha Kaloga of Germanwatch said that the Adaptation Fund had played a pioneering role in the adaptation climate finance landscape through such innovative features including direct access, and its source of financing from international carbon markets. The NGO Network expressed a desire to participate in efforts to raise awareness of the successes of the Fund and the opportunities it offered donors to channel climate finance commitments to vulnerable developing countries. The Board also heard from Ms. Mandy Barnett of South Africa’s National Biodiversity Institute who shared lessons learned on the journey that the entity had taken through its successful accreditation process and its plans to implement adaptation projects in the near future in South Africa.

During its meeting, the Board also affirmed its commitment to transparency by authorizing the Chair to sign the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) standard.  This is a further step taken towards ensuring that information on funded projects and programmes is made available to a wide audience in accessible formats.