FINANCING THE CLIMATE IN EAST AFRICA; WE ARE THE BENEFICIARIES.
Hello fellows I am writing this discussion of mine as my practical experience to share with you about the impact of climate finance in my country and our region in East Africa. I say this because my organization I work for was one among the recipient of GCF for Africa region to implement the conservation projects in our community, but also I was the one who was in COP 17 Durban South Africa 2011 where the Green Climate Fund –GCF initiated and agreed.
Before I continue with this side let me first discuss the general overview of the term climate finance. With regard to common element that are used to different operational definitions by data collectors and aggregators the following characterization can be found; climate finance aims at reducing emissions and enhancing sinks of greenhouse gases and at reducing vulnerability of and maintaining and increasing the resilience of human and ecological systems to negative climate change impacts. A narrow definition of the term ‘climate finance’ include finance that supports discrete climate activities but it exclude activities in which climate considerations are mainstreamed into traditional development assistance through a ‘climate proofing’ process.
Climate channels include multilateral and bilateral channels as well as national climate change funds. The nature of climate finance varies from grants and loans to guarantees and private equity. Multilateral climate finance comprise the Global Environment Facility- GED, the Adaptation fund –AF, the climate investment fund –CIF’s, and climate finance initiatives by multilateral development banks –MDB’s. MDB next to UN Agencies also act as implementing entities for GEF and AF among others. Green Climate Fund –GCF is the one of primary channel for international public climate finance. The big portion of this public climate finance is spent bilaterally and administered by largely via existing development agencies, even though now days have special administration established to manage this fund and it’s headquarter is in Songdo business district, South Korea.
Green Climate fund (GCF) is a new global fund created to support the efforts of developing countries to respond to the challenges of climate change. GCF helps developing countries limit or reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and adapt to climate change. It seeks to promote a paradigm shift to low-emission and climate resilient development, taking into account the needs of nations that are particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts.
It was set up by the 194 countries who are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2010 as part of the Convention’s financial mechanism. And was officially established and agreed in 2011 during Conference of Parties (COP 17) Durban South Africa were by myself was there as delegate of media and civil society groups members from African region.
GCF’s activities are aligned with the priorities of developing countries through the principle of country ownership; the fund has established a direct access modality so that national and sub-national organization can receive funding directly rather than only via international intermediaries.
Now let us see how east Africa responds to these support and initiatives.
For example, in Kenya was launched a holistic national climate change action plan, following a comprehensive planning process that brought together all key government ministries, sub-national governments, civil society, the private sector, and development partners. Rwanda recently established a national climate and Environment Fund, which is expected to evolve into an important vehicle for mobilizing private sector investment in climate-friendly technologies and initiatives, such as renewable energy and energy efficiency.
And Ethiopia has established a facility to fund its climate-resilient, green economy (CRGE) strategy. This facility includes two options for development partners to channel their climate finance contributions: directly into a national account, which promotes national ownership by relying entirely on the country’s financial management systems; or through an international intermediary, the United Nations Development Programe
Emerging Lessons in Mobilizing Climate Finance
As all of us discussed the question of climate change finance from our various perspectives, it became clear that there were a number of emerging messages about what it takes to mobilize and deploy climate finance to achieve low-carbon, climate resilient development outcome. Few of these lessons include;
Leadership: Key institutions or senior figures in government must take the lead in driving the transition to low-carbon, climate-resilient development planning and implementation. In Ethiopia for example, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development plays the key role of chairing the management committee of its CRGE Facility, while the technical expertise is provided by the Environmental Protection Authority.
Accountability: By governments to their citizens, by recipients of climate finance to the providers, and by international climate funds and institutions to the developing countries they fund. Accountability leads to trust, and trust keeps the climate finance flowing.
Policies and Plans: Articulating the country’s vision for a low-carbon, climate-resilient future, and the steps it intends to take to reach it, is a starting point for a comprehensive strategy. Identifying clear priorities for funding is key to staying on track to achieve that vision.
Coordination: Bringing all the relevant stakeholders within and outside of government into the planning process, with appropriate roles and responsibilities assigned, can help ensure broad support for the resulting policies. Kenya has actively engaged a broad range of stakeholders in developing its national climate change action plan.
Capacity: Appropriate technical skills, expertise, and resourcing at all levels of government and in civil society are needed to effectively execute plans and policies. Tanzania’s University of Dar es Salaam has recently established a Climate Change Centre to strengthen Tanzanian expertise in climate change issues.
Business case: Making the case for low-carbon investment can convince private-sector investors that they will have much to gain by putting their money into climate-friendly technologies. In Kenya, for example, the government has started funding exploration at potential geothermal energy sites, which has led to keen interest by the private sector to invest in geothermal power development.
What these East African countries have in common is their recognition that climate change is not just an environmental issue, but one that lies at the heart of sustainable economic and social development. Furthermore, they are not letting domestic progress hinge on securing climate finance from developed countries, or on making progress in the UNFCCC international climate negotiations. Despite the need for additional climate finance, these East African nations are taking bold steps to mainstream climate change into development planning and financing, as well as allocating their own funds towards implementation. In doing so, they are proactively charting a low-carbon future.
To end up my discussion let briefly see the impacts for decentralize climate finance to my beloved country Tanzania.
In Dodoma region— the impacts of climate change pose a significant threat to local livelihoods and economic activities across Tanzania including Zanzibar.
So as to address the challenge, Tanzania is joining with partners from civil society and government institutions to officially launch the 'Decentralized Climate Finance programme' to get climate adaptation money to local communities, making sure they play a part in deciding how that money is spent.
The 5-year programme will facilitate investments in improving responses to climate change across 15 test districts in mainland Tanzania and 3 districts in Zanzibar.
As it was said by senior officer "If successful by 2021, we will have helped Tanzanian communities to cope with the effect of climate change and learnt more about how this kind of approach be rolled our across Tanzania." said Dr. Lucy Ssendi, Senior Climate Change Advisor - PO-RALG.
Ssendi said that the programme will generate lessons that can be applied across Tanzania more widely. It will accomplish this by linking financial capital from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) with local governments in communities where such investments are likely to have the greatest impact.
The programme is funded by UKAID with technical support by the International Institute of Environment and Development (IIED) and United Nations Capita Development Fund (UNCDF).
The President's Office - Regional Administration and Local Government (PO-RALG) has a mandate to manage the Decentralized Climate Finance Programme in collaboration with Vice President's Office, Ministry of Finance and Planning, Institute of Rural Development Planning, Local Government Training Institute (Hombolo), Tanzania Meteorological Agency, Hakikazi and Tanzania Natural Resources Forum.
"Using the 'Devolution by Decentralization' framework, funds will be channeled effectively to local governments in a manner which contributes to good governance and accountability," she said.
She said PO-RALG will use the continuous learning and evidence generated from the project experience to facilitate dialogue at local, national and international levels.
The Programme will facilitate this process through capacity building with the PO-RALG, creating pilot funding programs, and conducting monitoring and evaluation activities.
Specifically, she added intended goals can be made to build the capacity of PO-RALG to develop the necessary competencies to scale-up devolved climate finance in support of community-driven adaptation across Tanzania.
Tanzania Natural Resource Forum who championing the project is a network organization registered in 2006 as a Non-Governmental Organization, with the aim of promoting the improvement of natural resource governance to achieve more sustainable rural livelihoods and better conservation outcomes.
TNRF works for improved natural resources governance by helping to bridge the gap between, People's local natural resource management needs and practices, and National natural resource management priorities, policies, laws and programs.
This article is written by;
Issa Isihaka
Climate Tracker from Tanzania.
East and Southern African Youth
Climate Change Alliance
(ESAY CCA Tanzania)
Email; chuki.issa@gmail.com
+255 788257640
+255 655257640
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