10 December 2011: The Global Environment Facility (GEF) has reported that several donor countries pledged new support to the GEF-managed Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) for climate change adaptation during the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 17) to the UNFCCC in Durban, South Africa.

According to the GEF, the new commitments are evidence of the growing awareness of the importance of international funding for climate change adaptation, particularly for the most vulnerable countries such as the least developed countries (LDCs). The fund, created in 2001 under the UNFCCC deliberations, has received over half a billion dollars in pledges through voluntary contributions from developed countries, in particular Germany, the US and Denmark. The LDCF is expected to support the poorest people enhance their resilience to climate change, including in areas of food security and access to water resources. The new pledges will contribute to reaching the goal of mobilizing US$30 billion for climate change adaptation for the 2010-2012 period. The LDCF currently supports 52 projects and programmes across 42 LDCs. It is the largest source of financing for adaptation in Africa and invests significant resources to help smallholder farmers, vulnerable coastal communities, as well as nomadic pastoralists develop and adopt resilient livelihoods. [GEF Press Release] [GEF LDCF Website]