Adaptation Fund Ready to Start Disbursing Money  

The Adaptation Fund is now ready to disburse money to support concrete projects in developing countries to cope with and prepare for the impacts of climate change. The Adaptation Fund is part of the Kyoto Protocol and was designed to raise funds from emission reduction projects and other sources in order to provide funding for the climate adaptation needs of the developing world. Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, said he thought it “extremely positive and encouraging” that the Adaptation Fund is up and running. “The operationalization of the Fund means that real cash starts flowing to developing countries for concrete adaptation action on the ground. Support for action now through an institution agreed by all sides under the international climate negotiations is exactly what needs to happen,” he said. “However, USD 53 million is far too little, and I urge developed countries to start to deploy the USD 30 billion in fast-track finance that they committed in Copenhagen to fund urgent developing country climate action up to 2012. A significant part of this contribution should go to adaptation action, and large sums can now be made available through the Adaptation Fund,” he added.

The Board of the Adaptation Fund has written a letter to invite developing countries to submit their project proposals. Details about the project cycle and accreditation of  implementing entities can be found on the Adaptation Fund’s web site.

Donor nations fund the Global Environment Facility (GEF), and every four years commit financial resources through a process called the "GEF Replenishment." At the November 2008 meeting, the GEF Council requested the Trustee of the Global Environment Facility, in cooperation with the CEO and Chairperson of the Facility, to initiate discussions on the fifth replenishment of resources of the GEF Trust Fund (“GEF 5”) with a view to ensuring uninterrupted funding of GEF operations and activities (GEF 4 replenishment will fund activities until June 30, 2010).

The GEF 5 replenishment cycle was finalized at a one-day meeting held in Paris on 12 May, where donor countries pledged USD 4.25 billion in funding. New net contributions amount to USD 3.49 billion (54 percent over GEF 4).

The GEF 5 replenishment is scheduled to fund four years of GEF operations and activities, beginning July 1, 2010 and ending June 30, 2014. The GEF Trust Fund provides grants for projects related to different focal areas, including climate change mitigation. According to the GEF 5 Programming Document and recent discussions, the climate change focal area under GEF 5 would receive a total allocation of USD 1.35 billion.

LDCF/SCCF Council Meeting

The third financing meeting of the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) and the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) was held in March in Rome. The GEF CEO opened the discussions by pointing out the strong need for predictability in the availability of resources for these funds, which would enable the GEF secretariat to bring a work plan with a longer term perspective. It was emphasized that an understanding of the overall amount for at least a 2 year horizon would greatly enhance the ability to plan ahead and improve the performance of the funds.

The meeting also saw the announcement made by the USA on their first ever contribution to these funds. USD 50 million (30m LDCF and 20m SCCF) from the US pledge have been secured for this year, and an additional USD 50 million are currently awaiting approval by the US Congress.

Other announcements were made by various European Union countries (notably Finland, Sweden, Germany and Spain) and also Switzerland, indicating their intention to provide part of their contribution to fast-start finance through the LDCF and SCCF.