As GCF continues to streamline its implementation of climate action in developing countries, it has been paring back the time taken from approval to rolling out projects on the ground.
“One of our objectives of the past two years has been to make sure we don't end up having to negotiate financial transfer agreements for six months or 12 months after our projects’ approval,” noted GCF Executive Director Yannick Glemarec during a recent online ceremony marking the four FAA signings.
The Executive Director added that the recent GCF Board meeting, its 28th, had also set a milestone in terms of project approval. “Our Board last week approved USD 7.5 billion for 15 projects,” he said. “It was our largest project approval ever for GCF, USD 1.2 billion, and also in co-financing, USD 6.3 billion.”
Two of the four projects which now move closer to implementation are based on collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). They will
- enhance the climate resilience of vulnerable coastal communities in Liberia’s capital of Monrovia through environmental protection measures and diversified climate-resilient livelihoods.
- Develop a multi-hazard early warning system in Uzbekistan which will initially address floods, mudflows, landslides, avalanches and drought in the country’s most populous and economically important eastern mountainous regions.
The two other projects are being implemented in partnership with the the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO). They will
- Strengthen the climate resilience of agriculture in Jordan, including through the training of nearly 4,000 “climate wise” women to become champions of improved water management.
- Promote the sustainable forest management of forests in southern Congo, including COVID-19 recovery measures that create new green jobs, in GCF’s first project in this country.
Two government ministers also joined the signing ceremony. They were Jordan’s Minister for Environment Nabil Masarweh and Congo’s Minister of Forest Economy Rosalie Matondo.