adminJeffrey Gogo Climate Story
Zimbabwe has begun the search for a national consultant to spearhead the mobilisation of financial resources for domestic climate change projects with the Green Climate Fund, a special UN facility for tackling climate challenges throughout the world. The country has an $80 million climate adaptation and mitigation project waiting in the wings for funding.
Established under the UN climate talks, the South Korea-based fund, which has so far raised $10,3 billion against the $100 billion needed each year by developing countries in Africa and elsewhere, aims to help poor nations cope with climate change.
The fund targets to achieve “transformational impact” by changing the way nations develop, helping them move away from carbon intensive energies such as coal, oil and gas, to cleaner options like solar.
Last week the Climate Ministry, a designated national entity under the GCF protocols, put out a call inviting qualified individuals or companies to the position of “national consultant”. Working under the Ministry of Climate, the incumbent’s number one goal is to develop a “strategic framework” that helps Zimbabwe tap into the GCF’s multi-billion-dollar coffers more rapidly in line with national targets to limit emissions and ease climate damage, particularly on the agriculture sector, the economy’s lifeblood.
The consultant will “support . . . in the identification of the country’s mitigation and adaptation needs and priorities in accordance with national strategic policy documents, sectoral programmes,” said the Ministry of Climate, in a statement released to the Herald Business last week.
It added that the specialist will also “contribute to the identification of programmes and projects that advance national priorities, and support the formulation of project idea briefs in the context of the country programme.” .
Zimbabwe is targeting to avoid the equivalent of 17 300 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 through higher thresholds for ethanol blending, boosting solar water heating and increasing the share of hydro-power in the national energy mix, according to an action plan submitted to the UN 2015.
That’s a 33 percent cut in greenhouse gases inside a decade. But there is a catch to it, not an unreasonable one at that. Rich countries — the ones historically responsible for fuelling climate change — must deliver up to $90 billion in finance cumulatively, not only for mitigation, but also adaptation and transfer of technologies.
Agriculture alone is asking for $35 billion to cope with climate impacts. In light of the large funding requirements, the Zimbabwe Government is looking to UN mechanisms such as the Green Climate Fund to play their part to help it achieve its climate and socio-economic goals.
Last week, the Ministry of Climate said it applied to the GCF for money to help it prepare for future financial applications for proper climate-busting projects. The current application is called “Building Capacity of Zimbabwe National Designated Authority to engage with the Green Climate Fund”
“The project is aimed at assessing and strengthening NDA institutional capacity, stakeholder engagement, staff training, support structure awareness…as well as the setting up of a GCF proposal review system,” said.
“The project is expected to also take stock of climate projects and programmes being financed in the country and define the country’s engagement strategy with the Fund through a stakeholder engagement process . . . ”
Looks laughable that developing countries making applications for funding to the GCF first have to apply for money (capacity building) in order to apply for more money (actual project implementation). It is not.
The Green Climate Fund has built a reputation for its oft cumbersome and frustrating application procedures. Some have started to think the stringent lending criteria is designed to limit and slow down disbursements, mostly to developing countries, as much as possible.
Critics point to the total $425 million distributed in two tranches throughout the world by September 2016, as evidence of the fund’s lack of appetite to lend at the scale that is demanded by climate change, particularly for vulnerable countries in Africa.
“The country programme to be developed will enable the focal point to have clarity in kick starting the project pipeline development process. This will entail identifying and prioritising interventions that align with national needs and the GCF’s initial investment, allocation and results management frameworks,” officials said.
The Ministry of Climate has since developed an “appropriate institutional framework” to facilitate the flow of climate finance into the country — the first of which was the Ministry’s accreditation as the National Designated Entity (NDA) — the focal, regulatory body in all GCF dealings.
The NDA is responsible for receiving, analysing and submitting all public and private funding proposals to the Green Climate Fund. To do that, the country must also have accredited implementing entities that meet up with the Fund’s fiduciary standards.
Accreditation is crucial to ensuring transparency, accountability, monitoring, reporting and evaluation for any money disbursed. By the end of 2015, the Environmental Management Agency had been accredited an implementing entity while SIRDC was knocking on the door.
God is faithful.
Online Reporter