28 April 2010: Spain has become the first country to make a significant contribution to the Adaptation Fund. The country’s contribution of 45 million Euros (US$60 million) will help the Fund finance climate change adaptation projects and programs in developing countries.
Farrukh Iqbal Khan, Chair of the Adaptation Fund Board, said that, with this contribution, “Spain has sent a strong message to the developing countries that it is serious about its commitment to help them adapt to climate change. I hope other developed countries would now follow suit by making contributions and thereby helping Adaptation Fund to fulfil its mandate.”
In accordance with the rules of the Adaptation Fund, the money will be disbursed at the sole discretion of the Adaptation Fund Board to meet the most pressing funding needs of developing countries, without any conditions imposed by the donor.
The Adaptation Fund is a self-standing fund established under the Kyoto Protocol of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which gets its funding from a two percent share of proceeds of all Certified Emission Reductions issued under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism projects and other sources of funding. The Fund is designed to finance concrete climate change adaptation projects and programs based on the needs and priorities of developing countries. [Adaptation Fund Press Release]