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Mafalda Duarte, the fund’s president, pledges a more proactive approach to bringing cash to the most vulnerable countries suffering the effects of climate change.
Somalia, one of the world’s most fragile countries, is bearing the brunt of extreme weather events.
Catastrophic flooding last November followed two years of drought, the worst in decades. The twin crises are estimated to have killed tens of thousands of people, displaced millions more, destroyed livelihoods and exacerbated severe hunger and water shortages.
For the East African country, this was more than just a one-off anomaly. Drought and flood cycles have become more frequent, intense and unpredictable as civilians are increasingly attacked by armed groups in the ongoing civil war.
Channeling donor resources to help vulnerable countries cope with the growing impacts of climate change should be a core mission of the Green Climate Fund (GCF). But not a single dollar of funding from the UN’s flagship fund has reached Somalia since it was established nearly 14 years ago.
Its new chief wants to change that. Mafalda Duarte marked her first term as the foundation’s executive director with a visit to Somalia, where she promised a different approach to getting more money to the world’s poorest people.
“We have to be more proactive in our planning,” she told Climate Home in an exclusive interview. “We can’t just sit back and wait for proposals to come to us like other countries do, because we don’t have the capacity. [in vulnerable countries]We need to work with the government to come up with a plan. ”
Current mission is “insufficient”
The Green Climate Fund has committed $12.8 billion over the next four years, funding 253 projects in 129 developing countries. The country has an obligation to distribute resources equally between emissions reduction and adaptation activities, with at least half of the latter going to the most vulnerable countries.
But Duarte told Climate Home that “those parameters are no longer sufficient.” “Even if we are compliant, it is still not enough to support a country like Somalia,” she said.
Somali pastoralists are trying to keep their cattle alive during a devastating drought.Photo: UNICEF Ethiopia/2022/Mulugeta Ayene
Listening to the priorities of ministers, business leaders and civil society in Mogadishu, the Green Climate Fund is now preparing to invest more than $100 million in Somalia over the next 12 months.
The first project was already underway before this month’s visit and will provide isolated communities with access to off-grid solar energy as part of a broader pan-African initiative covering 70 million people. A funding proposal to make Somalia’s agricultural sector more resilient to climate change and improve food security could be submitted to the fund’s board for approval as early as July.
building resilience
The Portuguese executive director, who took the helm of the fund last August, said the new targeted approach was not limited to Somalia. “You’re going to see us do a lot more,” she said. “We will look at the list of the most vulnerable countries, which currently have little to do, and seek to do the same.”
Liane Schalatek, vice president of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, welcomed the direction set by Duarte and urged the foundation’s largest partners, such as the World Bank and United Nations agencies, to direct funds from the fund to vulnerable countries. He said the key to the foundation was to “encourage” it to be used for further activities. success.
“Countries like Somalia end up relying on international access agencies who are often more willing to do the easy things than the hard things, so it is important to overcome their reluctance,” the experience said. added the avid GCF watcher.
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Duarte believes that UN agencies and multilateral development banks need to work together to limit the damage from future climate disasters. “We cannot continue to be reactive and provide humanitarian assistance when the next major drought or flood occurs,” she said. “We must work together to build community resilience.”
GCF leaders want to make broader changes to the way the fund is run. Establishing simpler rules and processes is next on her reform agenda, with the goal of moving away from a “one-size-fits-all approach.”
Poorer countries with weaker administrative capacity have long complained that accessing Fund funds is difficult and time-consuming, despite dedicated programs to help them.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a country like Somalia or a country like Brazil or India. It’s all the same.” 1710863718” Duarte said. “Of course that doesn’t work. We don’t operate in the same environment, with the same capabilities. We can’t be this cumbersome and demanding.”
Overcoming regional challenges
Translating ambition into real dollars locally is not always easy, given the barriers that have traditionally kept investors away from the most vulnerable countries.
Conflict, weak institutions, and poor governance increase the likelihood that projects will fail to meet their objectives or worse, waste valuable resources. For many people, the risk is intolerable.
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The Green Climate Fund finds itself walking a tightrope. However, it has long been criticized for being too cautious. Meanwhile, it recently withdrew from a forest protection project in Nicaragua after a three-year grievance process, citing human rights concerns.
A GCF spokesperson said the fund is currently “working to better understand what the real risks are and to mitigate them.” In Somalia, for example, that means learning from the World Bank, which has worked extensively with local financial institutions, they added.
For Sharatek, the GCF should not be afraid to provide funding to what she calls “climate finance orphans” who have been historically ignored, and should not be afraid to provide funding for what she calls “climate finance orphans”, rather than providing funding for informal NGOs centered on community interests. Such countries should cooperate more closely through networks.
“[The GCF] “We are a specialized United Nations fund, not a bank,” she said. “So you have to be willing to go where no one else is going.”
*This article was amended after publication to attribute the comment in paragraph 21 to a GCF spokesperson.
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