Earth Today | Adaptation Fund gets ‘new’ money

QATAR HAS pledged US$ 500,000 to the Adaptation Fund (AF), which supports concrete and effective adaptation actions in the most climate change-vulnerable communities around the world, including in Jamaica and the Caribbean.

“As a new contributor to the fund, Qatar is breaking ground in that it is the first non-Annex I party to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to provide financial support to the Adaptation Fund and is, further, the first country from the Middle East to contribute to the fund,” revealed a release from the AF.

Annex I parties are mostly developing countries that are especially vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change.

Qatar’s pledge to the fund, made through the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD), is also the first country-level contribution overall to the fund for the year 2021.

“The contribution will go towards the fund’s global efforts to meet rising needs for adaptation finance among the most vulnerable communities in developing countries,” the AF said.

The AF, which has since 2010 committed some US$783 million for climate change adaptation and resilience projects and programmes, received record highs in new proposals for review cycles in 2019 and 2020, and has an active project pipeline of about US$280 million.

To meet the continuous high demand, the board decided in November 2020 to raise its annual resource mobilisation target to US$120 million for both 2020 and 2021. In December 2020, during its virtual Contributor Dialogue to further Ambition in Adaptation Finance, the fund raised US$116 million in new contributions for 2020 with pledges from Germany, Italy, Sweden and Ireland, as well as Belgium’s Walloon Regional Government and Brussels-Capital Regional Government.

Groundbreaking pledge

The new contribution from Qatar comes fresh on the heels of those 2020 pledges, and marks a good start to the AF’s resource mobilisation efforts for the new year. Reflecting the growing number of diverse contributors to the fund, Qatar also marks the 22nd government to pledge support to the fund over the years.

“This generous new pledge to the Adaptation Fund from the state of Qatar is groundbreaking, coming from the first country in the Middle East and first non-Annex I party to contribute to the fund, and also sends a strong signal that global communities are sharing the urgency of climate finance needs for the most vulnerable, as well as recognising that collective efforts are necessary to tackle climate change, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Ibila Djibril, AF board chair.

“This further demonstrates continued confidence in the Adaptation Fund’s ability to help developing countries adapt and build resilience to climate change with its concrete, effective adaptation projects on the ground and innovative finance mechanisms that empower countries to adapt and are making direct positive impacts in vulnerable communities,” he added.

The contribution was made in the form of a partnership agreement between the QFFD and the Adaptation Fund.

“The partnership with the Adaptation Fund will help address and combat climate change challenges specifically related to LDCs and SIDS [and the most climate-vulnerable countries]. Such a partnership will ensure concrete adaptation activities that reduce the adverse effects of climate change facing communities, countries, and sectors. We look forward to working together towards capacity building for preventive measures, planning, preparedness and management of disasters relating to climate change,” said Khalifa bin Jassim Al-Kuwari, director general of the QFFD.