1 March 2018: The Green Climate Fund (GCF) Board has approved 23 new projects for climate adaptation and mitigation, totaling over US$1 billion in GCF funding, following discussions at its most recent meeting. This brings the GCF portfolio to 76 projects and programmes worth US$3.7 billion in GCF funding to help developing countries in their low emission and climate-resilient development.

The 19th GCF Board meeting, which convened from 27 February to 1 March 2018 in Songdo, Republic of Korea, also resulted in a number of policy decisions to strengthen GCF operations, including the adoption of an Indigenous Peoples Policy and an Environmental and Social Policy. The Board approved an additional US$60 million for the implementation of the Readiness Programme to help developing countries access GCF funds, and elected Lennart Båge, Sweden, and Paul Oquist, Nicaragua, as GCF Board Co-Chairs for 2018. More than 350 participants attended the meeting, including observers from civil society and the private sector.

The approved projects include three adaptation projects developed through UN Development Programme (UNDP)-led partnerships. The projects mobilize more than US$80 million in GCF funding for climate resilience initiatives in Bangladesh, Georgia and Zambia, and are expected to leverage US$239 million from the respective Governments, UNDP and others.

The GCF Board elected Lennart Båge, Sweden, and Paul Oquist, Nicaragua, as GCF Board Co-Chairs for 2018.

In Bangladesh, funding will support efforts to build the adaptive capacities of vulnerable coastal communities by providing assistance to 25,000 women and girls to adopt resilient livelihoods, while ensuring safe drinking water for 130,000 people through community-managed rainwater harvesting solutions. The six-year project will also, inter alia, strengthen women’s participation in the dissemination of gender-responsive early warnings, as well as monitoring of and adaptation to evolving climate risks.

In Zambia, nearly one million farmers will be supported through a seven-year project that will: strengthen the farmers’ capacity to plan for climate risks that threaten development gains; promote climate-resilient agricultural production and diversification practices to improve food security and income generation; improve market access; and foster the commercialization of climate-resilient agricultural commodities. The project is aimed at achieving SDGs 1 (no poverty) and 2 (zero hunger), as well as Zambia’s goal of becoming a middle-income country by 2030.

In Georgia, a seven-year project on scaling up early warning systems and using climate information will enhance the resilience of 1.7 million people and their livelihoods, helping to buffer against floods, droughts and other climate risks.

In addition, the first Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) funding proposal to the GCF was approved. The US$90 million project in Paraguay will benefit 17,000 vulnerable families, many from indigenous communities, by supporting the transition to sustainable forest management to reduce the loss of forest cover. The project will provide technical support and incentives to, inter alia, establish sustainable agroforestry practices; strengthen land tenure; improve efficiency of household biomass use; and enable the poorest to produce food while adopting low-emission and climate-resilient strategies.

In the Gambia, a UN Environment Programme (UNEP)-implemented project will integrate ecosystem-based adaptation (EBA) to climate change into planning at the national, district and village levels. The six-year project will restore agricultural landscapes and degraded ecosystems using climate-resilient tree and shrub species, and is expected to benefit over 11,000 people, over half of them women. It will help achieve SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities), among others.

Other projects approved at the Board meeting include: US$42.16 million for the ‘Climate-Resilient Water Sector in Grenada’; US$103 million for promoting risk mitigation instruments and finance for renewable energy and energy efficiency investments in Argentina; US$9.27 million for building climate resilience of vulnerable and food insecure communities through capacity strengthening and livelihood diversification in mountainous regions of Tajikistan; US$86.30 million for ‘Scaling Up Energy Efficiency for Industrial Enterprises’ in Viet Nam; and US$145 million for the ‘Ulaanbaatar Green Affordable Housing and Resilient Urban Renewal Project’ in Mongolia.

The next GCF Board meeting will take place from 1-4 July 2018, in Songdo. [GCF Press Release on Opening of Board Meeting] [GCF Press Release on Outcomes of Meeting] [19th Board Meeting Website and Documentation] [UNDP Story on Projects in Bangladesh, Georgia and Zambia] [UNDP Story on Zambian Project] [UNDP Story on Georgian Project] [FAO News Story on Project in Paraguay] [UNDP Press Release on Bangladesh Project] [GCF Press Release on Gambian Project] [Bangladeshi Project Website] [Georgian Project Website]