Adaptation Fund
The UN Adaptation Fund (UN-AF, Adaptation Fund) was set up by the Kyoto Protocol to help those developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of climate change to finance specific projects and programs for adaptation to the global Support warming .
The first steps towards establishing the fund were taken at the 7th Conference of the Framework Convention on Climate Change in Marrakech (Morocco) in 2001. It was only after the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali (Indonesia) in 2007 that the Adaptation Fund Board (AFB) could be set up and started working to develop the necessary guidelines and rules. At the UN climate conference in Poznan in 2008, the most important rules of the fund were also adopted by all Kyoto countries.
Innovative features of the fund
For many of the poor countries in the world, adapting to climate change is much more of a necessity than an option. It requires massive financial expenditures, the building of capacities at various levels and a constant expansion of knowledge about climate change. The Fund has a number of innovative approaches to finance, procedural rules and management.
Direct access
The fund enables developing countries to obtain funding directly and not, as is otherwise the case with international funds, via the detour of international institutions such as the World Bank or UNDP . The state making the application can have local institutions accredited as so-called "National Implementing Entities (NIE)" with the UN-AF. The named institution is responsible for the implementation of project and program proposals from its countries and for the funds allocated from the fund. You must therefore demonstrate certain standards of control and fiduciary management in order to be accredited. The main idea behind this approach is to strengthen the ownership of developing countries.
Funding mechanism
The UN-AF is the first fund to be financed from a source of income that results directly from international climate protection policy. It is financed primarily from a 2% levy on the emission reduction units allocated as part of projects under the Clean Development Mechanism . The first credits from CDM projects were monetized on behalf of the AFB in May 2009, and the estimates for the income from this monetization are approximately $ 340 million (medium estimate). The Fund may also draw funds from other sources of funding if they meet the terms of the Donation Acceptance Guidelines.
control
The steering committee, the Adaptation Fund Board (AFB), controls the UN-AF. It itself works under the supervision of the Kyoto treaty parties, to which it is accountable. It has 16 members with one deputy each: two of the members are recruited from each of the five UN regional groups, in addition one comes from the group of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and one from the group of Least Developed Countries (LDC). Two more are allocated to the Annex I states of the UNFCCC (developed countries) and the remaining two seats to non-Annex 1 states (developing countries). Overall, the developing countries have a majority, which is unique in international climate policy. However, all decisions of the steering committee should be made by mutual agreement. If no consensus is reached, a two-thirds majority of the members present can pass resolutions.
As a result of its practical experience, the steering committee has developed two further important approaches:
- Focus on the particularly vulnerable population groups
- The Adaptation Fund's strategic priority is that "when developing projects and programs, the contracting parties should pay particular attention to the specific needs of the most affected populations in their respective countries." This regulation is important because it represents a kind of quality criterion beyond national sovereignty. This is to ensure that project funding reaches those who need it most.
- Self-imposed transparent working method of the steering committee
- All relevant documents are available to everyone on the website before and after the meetings. Interested parties have the opportunity to take part in almost all of the meetings, which are also broadcast live via webcast. Furthermore, it will be possible for the AFB to publicly comment on the submitted projects before they make a decision and, if necessary, to point out critical aspects.
Fund strategic priorities
The central guidelines of the UN-AF are the "Operational Policies and Guidelines for Parties to access resources from the Adaptation Fund", which also regulate direct access to the resources of the Adaptation Fund, as well as the strategic priorities. Although they do not give the developing countries any explicit technical specifications about the type of their adaptation measures, it is important that the projects and programs they finance contribute to national ownership. These should be integrated into the structure of the national strategies for sustainable development and poverty reduction. The contracting parties should include political and scientific knowledge in their project. Decisions on the allocation of resources from the Adjustment Fund will be made according to the following criteria:
- Degree of vulnerability;
- Extent of negative effects;
- Degree of urgency and risks from delays;
- Ensuring access to the fund in a balanced and equitable manner;
- Experience in project design and implementation;
- Ensure positive side effects as much as possible;
- Maximizing multi-sectoral or cross-sectoral benefits;
- sustainable adaptability.
Challenges and opportunities
During 2010, the Adaptation Fund made important progress. Three “National Implementing Entities (NIE)” have now been accredited by the UN-AF steering committee: The Center de Suivi Ecologique (Senegal), Planning Institute of Jamaica (Jamaica) and Agencia Nacional de Investigacion e Innovacion (Uruguay). "Direct Access" has now become a reality. However, the accreditation process is progressing more slowly than hoped, as it is difficult for many developing countries to identify appropriate institutions and to prove that the standards set by the AFB have been achieved. At the 10th AFB meeting in June 2010, the first two specific adaptation projects were also approved, for Senegal and Honduras. By the end of 2010, by the 12th AFB meeting, a total of 24 projects (application concepts and fully developed project proposals) had been submitted to the AFB. Projects have also been approved for Nicaragua and Pakistan. The total funding volume for the four approved projects was approximately $ 23.7 million. However, half of the project submissions have so far received a negative decision, which also shows that the AFB takes the examination of the projects very seriously.
At the end of 2011 there were already eight approved projects, including the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation (MOPIC) from Jordan and the Ministry of Natural Resources (MINIRENA) from Rwanda as NIEs. The UNESCO has also been accredited as the tenth Multilateral Implementing Entity (MIE).
Overall, it is becoming apparent that the UN-AF will not have enough resources to meet even the short-term adjustment needs of the developing countries particularly affected. So generating more finance is an important task. In addition, it remains questionable what role the UN-AF will play in the future institutional landscape of climate policy. The agreements at the climate conferences in Copenhagen in 2009 and in particular that of Cancun in late 2010 to set up the new was Green Climate Fund ( Green Climate Fund ) decided that will be a much larger financial instrument for adjustment, but also other purposes for all expectations. The details of this fund were worked out for the 2011 UN climate conference in Durban by a Transitional Committee (TC) and should be decided at the conference in Doha in 2012 with firm funding commitments. This failed. However, the location of the Green Climate Fund in Songdo , Incheon, South Korea , which the GCF Board had already determined in spring 2012 , was confirmed.
Individual evidence
- ^ The Adaptation Fund: a model for the future? (PDF; 291 kB) iied.org. August 2009. Archived from the original on December 22, 2009. Retrieved on July 17, 2010.
- ↑ AF . Adaptation Fund. Retrieved July 17, 2010.
- ↑ Operational Policies and Guidelines . Adaptation Fund. March 2016. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
- ↑ [www.preventionweb.net/files/13786_Handbook.English1.pdf Adaptation Fund Handbook] . Adaptation Fund. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
- ↑ A list of the three NIEs accredited in 2010 can be found under: Accredited National Implementing Entities ( Memento of December 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), a current list under [1] .
- ↑ Detailed information on all projects can be found in the Adaptation Fund Project Tracker of the non-governmental organization Germanwatch: The Germanwatch Adaptation Fund Project Tracker ( Memento from February 28, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ adaptation-fund.org: Adaptation Fund Board Approves Second Direct Access Project, Accredits Three Implementing Entities , December 22, 2011, accessed December 28, 2011
- ↑ Green Climate Fund on the UNFCCC Secretariat website , accessed December 26, 2012.