Agreement with Green Climate Fund unlocks new opportunities for climate action in the Pacific
In Noumea yesterday, 7 November 2019, the Pacific Community (SPC) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF) signed an Agreement on Climate Change.
This significant breakthrough means that the 14 SPC members who are signatories of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will be able to directly access up to USD 50 million in GCF funding for climate-related projects, in various areas such as food security, health, ecosystems management and renewable energy.
Note: Solomon Islands is one of signatories of the UNFCCC.
The SPC is currently developing ten projects, with the objective of presenting the first ones to the GCF board in 2020.
This agreement will help expand SPC’s current portfolio of climate mitigation, adaptation and resilience projects, through which SPC provides a wide range of services to its members. These include grant funding, technical assistance, scientific information, knowledge, technology, policy advice, capacity building and management support.
It comes at a critical time in the struggle against climate change in the Pacific. Countries from the region are amongst the most vulnerable in the world because of their high dependence on natural resources, limited diversification of their economies, and high exposure to severe weather and natural hazards.
The effects of climate change are already visible, requiring countries in the region to act as fast as possible in order to scale up their adaptation and resilience programmes while continuing to pursue their low-emission objectives.
“Thanks to this agreement, we will be able to channel more climate funding and more partnerships towards the Pacific, to ensure that sustained funding and attention is brought to the region, particularly to Pacific Island Countries (PICs), which face in climate change their most existential threat.” said Cameron Diver, SPC’s Deputy Director-General.
“It is a unique opportunity for the Green Climate Fund and SPC to work together, to respond to the needs that are expressed by PICs, and to equip them with the right tools to take action at national, regional and global levels.” he added.
GCF Deputy Executive Director Javier Manzanares said GCF is paying particular attention to supporting the resilience of Pacific Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to match their extreme vulnerability to climate impacts.
“Warming oceans, sea-level rise and more intense weather events like cyclones are already impacting the everyday lives of Pacific Island people,” said Mr. Manzanares. “GCF is ready and willing to increase its support for Pacific SIDS. Without major investments to improve their adaptation to climate change now, some of these island nations could become uninhabitable,” Mr. Manzanares added, citing a recent International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report focusing on the world’s oceans.
Source: Pacific Community (SPC)
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
