Green Climate Fund approves USD 755m of projects

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) last week approved USD 755 million (EUR 711m) in funding for eight projects and programmes to help developing countries respond to climate change.

The projects were approved at the fund's first board meeting for 2017, held at its headquarters in South Korea. The next meeting will be in July.

The largest chunk of the funding, USD 265 million, is for the GEEREF NeXt programme with the European Investment Bank (EIB). The programme finances renewable energy and energy efficiency projects across five regions in Africa; Latin America and the Caribbean; Middle East and North Africa; Non-EU Eastern Europe/Central Asia; and the Pacific.

A significant portion of USD 154.7 million is for the Renewable Energy Financing Framework programme in Egypt with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

Other commitments include EUR 102.7 million (USD 109m) for the Simiyu Climate Resilience project in Tanzania with KfW, and USD 86 million for the Tina River Hydropower Development project in the Solomon Islands with the World Bank.

The GCF is a financial mechanism under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), created to limit or cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in developing countries, and to help vulnerable areas adapt to the impacts of climate change. It said its portfolio now includes 43 projects and programmes worth a total of USD 7.3 billion, including USD 2.2 billion in GCF funding and co-financing.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.942)

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