The board of directors of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) has agreed to give Madagascar, Comoros, Seychelles, and Mauritius a $49.2 million grant to carry out climate change adaptation projects.

Development Diaries gathered that the bulk of the grant for the projects, which were proposed by non-governmental organisations (NGOs), was validated at a meeting of the GCF directors held via a video conference.

The actual allocation from the GCF, according to reports, was $38 million. It was earmarked for NGOs in recipient countries that had ecosystem-based adaptation projects involving the use of the natural environment, particularly biodiversity and ecosystem services.

The remaining $11.2 million was a grant from the US-based Critical Ecosystems Partnership Fund, which enables civil society in developing countries to protect global biodiversity hotspots.

‘Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the Green Climate Fund has demonstrated its commitment to helping developing countries combat climate change by operating in a more agile, adaptable and virtual manner. We are therefore delighted to have the GCF as a partner in this fight’, the Principal Secretary for Energy and Climate Change in the Seychelles Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change, Wills Agricole, said.

The grants awarded by the GCF and the Critical Ecosystems Partnership Fund come in an African context marked by a worrisome climate emergency.

Climate change, such as rising temperatures and reduced freshwater supplies, as well as biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation are adversely impacting agriculture.

Climate change, according to the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), could deprive African countries of two to 16 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP).

Source: Afrik21

Photo source: World Bank Photo Collection