Source: US$3m for climate change projects | The Herald 12 AUG, 2019
Nesia Mhaka Herald Correspondent
The Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ) has received a US$3 million grant from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) for the formulation of National Adaptation Plan (NAP) and capacity building aimed at creating a green economy by 2030.NAP is a process that helps countries conduct comprehensive medium- and long-term climate adaptation planning.
Director of Climate Change in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement, Mr Washington Zhakata, revealed the latest developments in an interview.
Mr Zhakata said they were on course in structuring a green economic agenda.
He said the money will assist with adaptation planning, as well as capacity building and strengthening of the National Designated Authority (NDA), a core interface between a country and the funders.
“The Green Climate Fund is a new global fund created to support the efforts of developing countries to respond to the challenge of climate change,” said Mr Zhakata.
“It helps developing countries limit or reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to adapt to climate change and is part of the 2015 Paris Global Accord which the country ratified last year.
“This fund is only enough for us to come up with a National Adaptation Plan and to see how we can mainstream climate change into all development sectors.
“Once we have the document, it will guide various mitigation exercises by industry, the agricultural sector, waste sector and forestry, among others to mainstream climate change with respect to emission reductions until 2030.”
IDBZ climate, finance and sustainability manager Mrs Veronica Jakarasi told The Herald that Zimbabwe required financial and technical support for acceleration and implementation of its climate change adaptation and mitigation programmes.
“Our commitment is to achieve carbon emissions per capita by 2030 that are 33 percent below the projected ‘business as usual’ level and this calls for innovative funding mechanisms,” she said.
“There is a need to broaden funding sources and having our local investors and the mainstream banking system embrace the concept of green finance.
“IDBZ is at the centre of national efforts to come up with these innovative funding platforms and coordination packaging of green projects in the infrastructure sector.
“The bank is in the process of establishing a Climate Finance Facility (CFF) which is essentially a ring-fenced fund dedicated to financing green projects in Zimbabwe in the priority areas of renewable energy, energy efficiency, irrigation schemes and waste management systems.”
Mrs Jakarasi said the intention was to use the CFF as a platform to crowd-in various climate finance sources and private sector investment into the financing of green projects so that the country does not rely solely on the GCF for funding.
COMMENTS