By Celsias Team
Posted on July 27, 2010. Listed in:
A new study seeking to establish a regional Climate Change Fund has been announced, with the aim of helping Pacific island countries improve access to, and management of, the various financial resources being committed globally to combat climate change.
The study, launched by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), is in response to recommendations made at last years Pacific Climate Change Roundtable, held in the Marshall Islands.
Delegates present at the Roundtable meeting expressed concern that, while millions of dollars in climate change funding are currently available at the global level, the Pacific region faces challenges in its ability to access the funding. Difficulties have also arisen in effectively managing and implementing many of the projects under current funding arrangements.
Two of the main challenges faced include a lack in human resources to design and develop proposals, as well as general limitations in technical expertise. Compounding the issue are the different expectations and reporting requirements of the different donor organisations.
“There is a need to develop a process that will help countries access funds that can be mobilised in a timely fashion to meet their priorities in mitigation and adaptation,” says Espen Ronneberg, SPREP’s Climate Change Adviser.
At the same time, there is recognition that countries also require assistance in implementation and management of mitigation and adaptation initiatives, and in ensuring timely reporting to donors.
“The funding mechanism will need to also address this issue and provide some form of technical backstopping for those countries requiring this additional assistance,” says Ronneberg.
The study will assess resources currently available to Pacific Island Countries for climate change initiatives and will identify likely new funding.
“This information will help guide future national and regional responses and policies, including coordination arrangements,” says Ronneberg.
The SPREP-commissioned study is aptly timed, with climate change financing set to dramatically increase as a result of the Copenhagen Accord. The Accord includes a collective commitment by developed countries to provide new and additional resources kick-started by NZ$40 billion for the period 2010 – 2012.
The Copenhagen Accord, which was the outcome of the 10th Conference of Parties to the 2009 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, also commits developed countries to jointly mobilise NZ$137 billion a year by 2020 to address the needs of developing countries.
“The outcomes of the study will help ensure that Pacific requirements are well-articulated and that current challenges and barriers to accessing available climate funds are minimised under current international financing mechanisms,” says Ronneberg.
The results of the study will be presented to the SPREP Ministerial Meeting in Madang, Papua New Guinea in September this year.
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