• ZAMBIA will host the board meeting of the Worldwide Green Climate Fund (GCF) which will offer a good window for the country to lobby for climate change funding

By STANSLOUS NGOSA –
ZAMBIA has been awarded the opportunity to become the first African country to host the board meeting of the Worldwide Green Climate Fund (GCF).
In this regard, Zambia is expected to share its experience and raise awareness to the world about the impact of climate change in the country’s regions which are most affected.
Apart from preparing for the meeting, the country is taking active steps to become one of the first beneficiaries of the GCF.
The delegates to the Livingstone 2015 GCF meeting will comprise GCF Board members, observers from civil society, the private sector, and various international organisations.
The GCF is an operating entity of the financial mechanism of the Convention and is accountable to and functions under the guidance of the COP.
It is governed by a Board comprising 24 members with equal numbers from developed and developing countries and is intended to be the main fund for global climate change finance in the context of mobilising US$100 billion by 2020.
David Kaluba, a principal economist at the Ministry of Finance and National Planning is a board member of the GCF whose headquarters are in Songdo Incheon, South Korea.
The GCF was established by the Conference of Parties (COP) at its 16th session, designed throughout 2011 by a Transitional Committee and launched at COP 17 through decision three/CP.17, including the governing instrument for the GCF .
Given the urgency and seriousness of climate change, the purpose of the GCF is to make a significant and ambitious contribution to the global efforts towards attaining the goals set by the international community to combat climate change.
The GCF is expected to contribute to the achievement of the ultimate objective of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
In the context of sustainable development, the Fund will promote the paradigm shift towards low-emission and climate-resilient development pathways by providing support to developing countries to limit or reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
The Fund will be guided by the principles and provisions of the Convention.
The GCF is expected to operate in a transparent and accountable manner guided by efficiency and effectiveness.
The Fund would play a key role in channeling new, additional, adequate and predictable financial resources to developing countries and will catalyse climate finance, both public and private, and at the international and national levels.
The GCF would pursue a country-driven approach and promote and strengthen engagement at the country level through effective involvement of relevant institutions and stakeholders.
The Fund would be scalable, flexible and would be a continuously learning institution guided by processes for monitoring and evaluation.
The GCF would strive to maximise the impact of its funding for adaptation and mitigation, and seek a balance between the two, while promoting environmental, social, economic and development co-benefits and taking a gender-sensitive approach.
The Fund would provide simplified and improved access to funding, including direct access, basing its activities on a country-driven approach.
The GCF would encourage the involvement of relevant stakeholders, including vulnerable groups and addressing gender aspects.
During the forth-coming meeting to be held in November 2015 in Livingstone, the GCF Board would approve some financing request proposals.
This will be in time for the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP 21) to the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) scheduled for Paris, France towards the end of the year.
Mr Kaluba said hosting the high level meeting would realise benefits for the country, including enhancing climate change projects and promoting tourism.
“Hosting the meeting in Zambia would give us an opportunity to express the need to have additional funding for other projects that help with load shedding and renewable energies,” Mr Kaluba said.
The meeting would enable Board members to see some of the community projects to be implemented that are aimed at mitigating and adapting to climate change.
Mr Kaluba said the opportunity could also see Zambia’s projects being the ones to be approved and funded.
Secretary to the Treasury Fredson Yamba said the choice of Zambia as the host of the important gathering of over 300 delegates was in recognition of the country’s positive image in international community.
“I am pleased to announce that Zambia has been awarded the opportunity to become the first African country to host the board meeting of the worldwide GCF,” Mr Yamba said.
The decision to give Zambia an opportunity to host the conference, was consistent with the policy of Government to facilitate job and wealth creation in all spheres of Zambia’s socio-economic endeavour.
Mr Yamba said the aim of the GCF was to help developing countries reduce emissions and enhance investments in adaptation.
He said the GCF was an important avenue for the country to scale up existing initiatives such as the Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience (PPCR), the Scaling-Up Renewable Energy Programme (SREP), Forest Investment Programme (FIP), Zambia Integrated Landscape Management Project (ZILMP) and the National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA).
GCF co-chair Henrik Harboe said in a Press release that financing decisions on these proposals would allow the Fund to report to the COP that its first projects have been approved and are ready for financing and implementation.
“We expect to see high quality proposals at our next meeting that will have strong climate impact that will set the precedent for other developing countries which approach the Fund,” he said
He said the commitment of developing countries over the next three months is fundamental to what happens with this Fund.
The Fund will also launch a pilot programme at $200 million for enhancing direct access to increase country ownership of the projects proposed to the Fund.
The programme devolves decision making on specific pilot activities from the Fund to  country level, through accredited entities and offers mechanisms for increased national oversight and multi-stakeholder engagement.
“The Green Climate Fund employs a country driven process, and initiatives like direct access propel that forward,” said Gabriel Quijandría Acosta, another Co-chair of the Board.
He said strong country ownership and country commitment are critical to ensuring that the Fund delivers on its vision.
The Board set aside resources to establish additional pilot programmes of up to $ 200 million to support micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs), as well as to mobilise resources.
The three competitive programmes are to be prepared and launched gradually in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Thirteen new partnering institutions were accredited to GCF, expanding the Fund’s network of accredited entities to 20.
These institutions will act as channels through which the Fund will deploy its resources to developing countries assets of the Fund.
Civil Society Organisation dealing with climate changes issues are excited about Zambia hosting the high profile meeting because the country stands to be one of the first to access funding and improve its profile on the world map.
Chileshe Musonda of Zambia Climate Change Network said hosting the meeting is a good window for Zambia to lobby for climate change funding.
“It is also important to recognise the efforts of the members and the secretariat because Zambia’s profile would be enhanced,” Mr Musonda said.
Abel Musumali of Green Enviro-Watch, who echoed similar sentiments, added that there is need to ensure that the funding is made easy for the intended beneficiaries.
It is everyone’s prayer that GCF is operationalised as quickly as possible so that the impact of climate change could be addressed through mitigation and adaption.