30 June 2017: During the month of June, measures aimed at adaptation and improved resilience to disaster and climate risks in the agricultural, forestry and tourism sectors received support in Europe, Asia and the Caribbean.

Several countries in Africa secured funding for drought-related emergencies and resilience-building measures. In project lessons, multilateral funding agencies highlighted how cellular networks and sewing cooperatives can boost climate resilience in Africa. This Update brings you news on these developments.

Adaptation and Resilience Projects

Over recent weeks, adaptation and resilience projects in the Horn of Africa, the Caribbean, Moldova and Mongolia obtained funding from multilateral development banks (MDBs).

On the occasion of the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, celebrated on 17 June, the African Development Bank (AfDB) announced it would accelerate the implementation of its Drought Resilience Sustainable Livelihood Support Programme (DRSLP), aimed at tackling the underlying causes of drought-related vulnerability among pastoralists in the Horn of Africa through disaster risk reduction (DRR), ecosystem rehabilitation and sustainable livelihood practices. Plans include providing US$1.1 billion to alleviate food insecurity and prevent malnutrition among 20 million people in South Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda. [AfDB Press Release]

In Moldova, a US$27.2 million World Bank loan will support climate change adaptation efforts in the agricultural sector, including by: encouraging the adoption of climate-smart practices (including technologies, and advisory and irrigation services); restoring degraded lands at community level; and strengthening of the national climate and disaster risk management systems. [World Bank Press Release] [World Bank Project Information]

In the Caribbean, a grant from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) of US$460,000 will enable the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) to implement a climate and natural hazard risk resilience project, aimed at supporting the region’s tourism entities in policy formulation, dissemination of best practices and development of awareness-raising tools. [CDB Press Release]

Also in the Caribbean, a US$3.5 million grant from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) will cover Haiti’s 2017-2018 insurance premiums for tropical cyclones, earthquakes and excess rainfall coverage as part of the CDB’s support to strengthening the country’s resilience to natural disasters. [CDB Press Release]

In Mongolia, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will support a US$500,000 technical assistance project that will strengthen local capacity to implement forest conservation and management laws. Preventing degradation of forest resources while supporting livelihoods of local communities will help enhance the climate resilience of Mongolian forest ecosystems. [ADB Press Release]

Disaster Relief Support

In the area of disaster relief, multilateral support was approved for Somalia and Sri Lanka. In Somalia, a US$50 million emergency project of the World Bank, delivered by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), will help scale up ongoing drought response and recovery efforts amidst the country’s worst drought in decades, estimated to affect 6.7 million people.

In Sri Lanka, the ADB approved a US$2 million grant following floods and landslides induced by pre-monsoon rains, which claimed more than 200 lives and damaged housing and crops. According to FAO, the food security of 900,000 people has been endangered as a consequence of these floods. The Organization launched an appeal for urgent provision of seeds, and planting and irrigation equipment/systems. [World Bank Press Release on Somalia] [ADB Press Release on Sri Lanka] [FAO Press Release on Sri Lanka]

Project Lessons

On project lessons, the World Bank reported on a road rehabilitation programme in Malawi, which included the participation of communities in restoring damage caused by El Niño-induced floods in 2015. While the project resulted in the restoration of the road network, farm inputs exchanged for labor dedicated to the project did not achieve their intended results due to droughts in 2016. [World Bank Press Release]

Further north, in the Sahel region, the World Bank’s Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) and the UK Government-supported Challenge Fund is employing cell phones to model rainfall patterns and predict the path of a storm and participatory, or crowd-sourced, mapping to improve flood preparedness measures. [World Bank Press Release]

In Niger, a sewing cooperative established with the support of the UN Development Programme’s (UNDP) agricultural climate resilience and adaptive capacity project is providing women with an alternative livelihood that is independent from the country’s constant changes in climatic conditions. The project is financed by the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDC Fund) and the Government of Canada. [GEF Press Release]

In Bangladesh, the Government’s multi-donor trust fund Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund (BCCRF), established in 2010 and supported by Australia, Denmark, the European Union (EU), Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and US, has to date awarded a total of US$13 million in sub-grants to 41 non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The funding has benefited 40,000 people through community-led projects. [World Bank Press Release]

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The SDG Knowledge Hub publishes monthly climate finance updates, which largely focus on multilateral financing and cover, inter alia, mitigation and adaptation project financing news and lessons, institutional events and news, and latest developments in carbon markets and pricing. Past IISD climate finance updates can be found under the tags: Finance Update: Climate Change; and Finance Update: Sustainable Energy.