Six project agreements were signed by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and its Accredited Entity (AE) partners on the margins of GCF’s 37th Board meeting (23- 25 October 2023) in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Out of 15 projects approved at the Board meeting, six project agreements, or Funded Activity Agreements (FAAs), were signed on the last day of the Board meeting on 25 October. The FAAs, which contain a set of conditions to be fulfilled by the AE, must be negotiated and signed by GCF and the AEs before the project can launch. The short turnaround between Board approval and legal arrangements is a result of the Fund’s efforts to speed up processes to efficiently deliver projects on the ground.
The six projects will increase climate resilience in six developing countries: Benin, Brazil, Lao PDR, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Thailand. Three were approved through the Simplified Approval Process (SAP), a GCF funding modality for projects up to USD 25 million that require simpler and fewer documents for project applications. Three of the projects are direct access, implemented by national or subnational organisations (Ministry of the Environment of Rwanda, Fundación Avina, National Fund for Environment and Climate (FNEC) of Benin).
FP214: Thai Rice: Strengthening Climate-Smart Rice Farming with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
This is the first project supported by GCF to focus on transforming rice production systems with an emphasis on circular economy solutions. This project will support Thai rice farmers and service providers in the adoption of climate-smart technologies and practices and deliver farmer-friendly financial products to sustainably manage rice farming.
FP217: Building Resilience of Vulnerable Communities to Climate Variability in Rwanda’s Congo Nile Divide through Forest and Landscape Restoration with the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) of Rwanda
This project will improve the climate resilience of vulnerable communities by expanding and preserving natural forests while strengthening the authorities’ and local people’s capacity for sustainable and climate responsive forest and landscape management. The project will be instrumental in safeguarding one of Africa’s most biodiverse ecosystems, the Albertine Rift, home to half of Africa’s bird species and 40 per cent of its mammals.
FP218: Building climate resilience in the landscapes of Kigoma region, Tanzania with United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Tanzania
This project adopts an integrated landscape-level approach that addresses the climate adaptation requirements of host communities and refugees in Kigoma. Directly benefitting over half a million people, the project will ensure the long-term sustainability of the communities through land-use demarcation, increased provision of ecosystem services and land productivity, increased water availability for irrigation and food security through improved crop production.
SAP030: Strengthening Climate Resilience of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) Health System with Save the Children Australia
This project will enhance the climate resilience of the Lao PDR health system and strengthen community capacity to manage health impacts from climate change. This will be achieved by strengthening health system leadership and governance at national and subnational levels, expanding health facility and community access to climate information and information on key WASH indicators, and strengthening the capacity of the health workforce in 25 climate-vulnerable rural districts.
This project aims to enhance the resilience of smallholder communities by promoting and expanding diversified agroforestry systems (DAS). It will focus on strengthening smallholder production, cultivating subsistence and commercial agroforestry-based products and will contribute to policy development. It aims to improve smallholders' access to markets, foster producer organisations, promote financial literacy, and enhance their access to available financial resources such as through the creation of a reserve fund.
SAP032: Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility – LoCAL with National Fund for Environment and Climate (FNEC) of Benin
This project aims to empower local governments and communities for adaptation and increase climate-compatible investments through scaling up the “Local climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL) initiative launched by Benin and the United Nations Capital Development Fund. It will enable local stakeholders to take adaptation into consideration in development planning and give access to climate finance to increase adaptation investments in key climate sensitive sectors.