The Green Climate Fund last week approved $1.2 billion for 17 new projects in developing countries in its largest single round of commitments. Many of the projects focus on the most climate-vulnerable regions in the world, and seek to support climate resilience through early warning systems, sustainable agriculture and ecosystem restoration.
The Green Climate Fund approved $33.6 million to restore land and manage water in northern Mauritania and $16.7 million to protect Saint Lucia’s fisheries communities with coastal defenses and sustainable fishing practices.
In Nepal, Green Climate Fund is backing efforts to protect lives and infrastructure from glacial lake outburst floods and climate-induced flooding in the Himalayas. The financing comes in the wake of the Trump administration’s cuts to USAID, which have contributed to a $70 billion annual shortfall in global concessional finance and an estimated 14 million preventable deaths by 2030.
Green bonds
As the US pulls back, multilateral institutions like Green Climate Fund are stepping in to fill the growing gap. The fund made a $227 million equity investment in the Global Green Bonds Initiative to help build out green bond markets in sub-Saharan Africa and other underserved regions.
The Green Bonds initiative is a partnership between Green Climate Fund and development finance institutions such as the European Investment Bank, Germany’s KfW and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Another $200 million will support a green finance facility for clean energy and low-carbon infrastructure in India. In Papua New Guinea, the Fund approved $63 million to advance REDD+ and sustainable land use.
The Fund’s portfolio totals 314 projects and $18 billion in approved finance, or $67 billion including co-financing.
