Countries: Comoros, Madagascar, Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles, Sri Lanka

Training delivery

In May 2022, a regional training workshop on Climate Finance Access and Mobilization for the Islands States in the Indian Ocean (ISIO) took place in the Republic of Maldives, under the  UNFCCC secretariat facilitated Needs Based Finance (NBF) project. Joined by Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), USAID and UNDP the training marked the first time representatives of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), Global Environment Fund (GEF) and Adaptation Fund (AF) collaborated in a joint effort to support the Island States of the Indian Ocean (ISIO) in mobilizing and accessing finance for regional priorities. The meeting also provided a practical example of how the Long-Term Vision on Complementarity and Coherence collaboration between the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) could be further strengthened.

The six participating countries (Comoros, Madagascar, Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles and Sri Lanka) face common climate change challenges which they are trying to address through a recently adopted Climate Finance Access and Mobilization Strategy. The region’s adaptation needs are mostly in the critical infrastructure, tourism, water supply and sanitation, health, biodiversity, food security (agriculture, livestock, fisheries), coastal zone protection and marine resources and disaster risk reduction sectors. Mitigation action on the other hand is required in the energy, transport, industry, forestry and land use, and waste sectors. According to the regional Technical Assessment, USD 49.6 billion are required to cover the climate action needs by 2030. A large financing gap is yet to be bridged as climate finance received from developed countries to all six countries amounted to USD 6.18 billion between 1991 and 2020. All six countries have agreed steps to help address these constraints through their Climate Finance Access and Mobilization Strategy for the region.

In her opening remarks, H.E. Aminath Shauna, Minister of Environment, Climate Change and Technology of Maldives noted that scaled up and enhanced NDCs and climate action require major overhaul of financial system to address the climate emergency and emphasized the need to move away from business as usual financing. She invited ISIO countries to work together to enhance access to climate finance, as they share common challenges and can learn from each other’s innovative solutions.

Stakeholders who participated in the training included representatives from countries’ governments. The innovative training was delivered by the GCF, GEF and AF and regional partners UNDP, USAID and GGGI, who provided detailed guidance and information on their respective funding windows and project development processes.

Participants were encouraged to see the climate funds combine efforts to explain the multitude of financing options, instruments and sources available to fund priority adaptation and mitigation projects. Participants particularly benefited from numerous engagement and exchange sessions, aimed at guiding them to make sense of the different requirements between the funds in applying for funding, the identification of commonalities and transforming ideas into bankable project proposals. These included projects in climate smart agriculture, coral reef preservation and restoration, climate-proof infrastructure and strengthening of early warning systems. A regional investment forum is planned to take the projects proposals developed at the meeting further.

The combined fund approach successful applied is also planned to be replicated in other regions to support countries in implementing their climate finance access and mobilization strategies.

Background

Project stage: Strategy validation and approval

The six small island developing states in the Indian Ocean are amongst the most vulnerable to climate change impacts. There is an urgent need to enhance the provision of finance, technology and capacity-building and to ensure predictability and alignment of finance for nationally defined goals. The Needs Based Finance (NBF) Project, through the development and implementation of the proposed Climate Finance Access and Mobilization Strategy, is designed to deliver regional clarity on mobilization and access of climate finance.  

Overview and objectives of training workshop

The experts representing the six countries in the island states in the Indian Ocean expressed the need to undertake training in accessing and mobilizing climate finance to support their priority climate actions. In this context, the UNFCCC secretariat, under the auspices of the Needs-Based Finance Project is organizing this training workshop with the objective of developing skills and knowledge in the development or supervising the preparation of a climate change adaptation and mitigation projects to support the implementation of priority adaptation and mitigation needs of the island states in the Indian Ocean (ISIOs). In particular, the workshop aims to build capacity and skills of the participants by providing them with information and tools that will assist them in translating project concepts to project proposals to access suitable climate finance.

This workshop should be viewed as an initial step in understanding the whole project development process by going through each phase of the process through interactive exercises. At the of the workshop, the participants will produce draft concept notes that ISIO countries can collectively develop, with the assistance of international organization. Skills learned in this workshop will enable participants to develop project proposals to mobilize finance from both public and private sources at the international, regional and national level.

The event is organized with contribution from:

The event is organized in partnership with:

The event is organized in collaboration with:

PROGRAMME

(Version 22.05.2022)
(The provisional programme will be revised based on the outcomes of the training needs assessment)