adminProtocol for implementing programmes to mitigate climate change.
National Climate Change co-ordinator Mr Washington Zhakata said that the board, to be known as the Designated National Implementing Entity (DNIE), would be in place by year end.
“The DNIE is a requirement of the Adaptation Fund that any country which wants to access funds must fulfil first,” he said.
Mr Zhakata said the board would vet all proposed climate change mitigatory projects to ensure they were in line with national priorities.
The Adaptation Fund is a financial instrument under the Kyoto Protocol of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The protocol sets binding targets for 37 industrialised countries and the European community for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, which cause global warming, leading to climate change.
The fund was established to finance concrete adaptation projects and programmes in developing countries that are parties to the Kyoto Protocol in an effort to reduce the adverse effects of climate change that communities face.
The fund was first proposed in 2001 and it became operational in 2009.
Tanzania and Uganda are among the few African countries that have accessed funds so far.
Activities that the fund supports include capacity building for preventive measures, planning, preparedness and management of disasters relating to climate change, in particular for droughts and floods in areas prone to extreme weather events.
The fund also supports strengthening of existing as well as establishing national and regional centres and information networks for rapid response to extreme weather events, utilising information technology as much as possible.
Mr Zhakata said although there was provision for countries to use UN bodies such as the United Nations Development Programme to administer the funds, Zimbabwe had opted to establish its own board since the agencies require a certain percentage of the money as administration fees. – New Ziana.
Online Reporter