By BRIAN HATYOKA –

THE Green Climate Fund (GCF) Board has approved US$168 million for eight projects and programmes in developing countries for climate change mitigation and adaptation.
According to a press statement released in Livingstone yesterday at the closure of the 11th board meeting, the activities supported by the Board would generate up to $1.3 billion in investments over the coming five years.
The Board meeting, which was opened by Zambia’s Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda on Monday night at Royal Livingstone Hotel this week, has approved an initial batch of projects, covering mitigation and adaptation measures.
According to the statement, the projects include three in Africa as well as three in Asia-Pacific and two in Latin America.
The partnering entities for the projects include national, regional, and international bodies accredited to the Fund, from both the public and private sectors.
Some of the eight projects approved are building resilience of wetlands in the Province of Datem del Marañón in Peru, with Profananpe $6.2 million and scaling up the use of modernised Climate Information and Early Warning Systems in Malawi, with United Nations Development Programme  at $12.3 million.
Other projects are increasing the resilience of ecosystems and communities through the restoration of the productive bases of salinised lands in Senegal at $7.6 million, climate resilient infrastructure mainstreaming in Bangladesh at $40 million just to mention a few.
“Approving these first projects is an important milestone, particularly for GCF’s partnering entities and beneficiaries.
“This first review of projects has been an enriching experience for the Board. It has allowed us to reflect on the areas that need to be further enhanced to speed up support to countries that are already experiencing the devastating impacts of climate change,” co-chairperson of the Board Gabriel Quijandria Acosta said
Another co-chair of the Board,  Henrik Harboe said the approved projects showcased the transformative impacts that GCF has been designed to deliver.
“We have some innovative projects which have all satisfied our rigorous review process, including the assessment by the independent Technical Advisory Panel
“The Fund is now truly up and running, and I am confident the Board will go on to scale and fund much bigger projects in the near future, living up to our ambition with the Fund,”  Mr Harboe said.
The Board also agreed to allocate up to $195 million to the future phases of the Energy Efficiency Green Bond Programme in Latin America and the Caribbean, further mobilizing an estimated $630 million in private investments.
GCF, which was set up by 194 Government’s party to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), was given the mandate to help keep the planet’s atmospheric temperature rise below two degrees Celsius.
The Fund received pledges of approximately US$ 10 billion equivalent in 2014, of which more than half have been signed into contribution agreements.