http://www.global-mechanism.org en-uk Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:45:48 +0100 Sat, 05 Jul 2008 22:02:23 +0100 http://www.global-mechanism.org/news--events/news/promoting-investments-in-the-agricultural-forestry-and-land-use-sectors-through-climate-change-finance-mechanisms
The ‘Rome 2007 Initiative’, launched in November 2007 by the GM in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Investment Centre and Ecosecurites, aims to promote public-private investments in agriculture and rural development -with a particular focus on sustainable land management (SLM) - through existing and innovative climate change financial mechanisms.


As part of this initiative, the GM and FAO Investment Centre organized two side events on pertinent issues for the agriculture and land use sector in the Kyoto Post-2012 negotiations, at the 28th Session of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Subsidiary Bodies and Sessions of the Ad-hoc Working Groups, in June 2008.


The first event held on 10 June 2008, focused on 'Technical and financial issues in supporting Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) processes in low carbon density forestlands'. The GM and FAO Investment Centre stressed how degradation of forestlands in arid and semiarid areas is a major contributor to desertification. Local communities in such areas are particularly vulnerable, and this is why it is essential to ensure low carbon density forestlands are included in REDD mechanisms. The GM and FAO are committed to navigating the technical and financial issues that need to be addressed in support of the negotiation process leading up to the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP 15), in December 2009.


The second event on 13 June 2008, organized by FAO, the GM, the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Centre (CATIE) and the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), was entitled, 'Climate change financing: fresh resources for sustainable land management or re-labelling?' This side event identified inputs and recommendations to be addressed iin the context of current discussions on the design of the post 2012 ‘climate change regime’, with a view to ensuring sustained investment flows into SLM to improve the livelihoods of rural communities in fragile and/or degraded areas. The event explored opportunities for and limits to mobilizing finance for SLM in the context of new and additional funds for climate change and global commons and discussed recommendations for increasing investment flows in SLM.


The GM also presented a joint initiative and proposal with FAO and Ecosecurities on a ‘Climate Change Investment Facility’ at the Business Council Sustainable Energy side event on ‘Shaping post-2012: linking systems, targets and strategies, and encouraging less-developed mitigation and adaptation sectors’ on 11 June 2008. Through the investment facility, the GM and other public and private partners will promote mitigation and adaptation activities in the agricultural, forestry and other land-use sectors.



 Download briefing note on Rome Initiative 2007 (pdf, English, 37 kb)



For more information:


Mr Alejandro Kilpatrick

Coordinator, Climate Change and Environmental Service Strategic Programme

Tel. +39 06 5459 2524

a.kilpatrick (at) global-mechanism.org Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:45:48 +0100 http://www.global-mechanism.org/news--events/news/promoting-investments-in-the-agricultural-forestry-and-land-use-sectors-through-climate-change-finance-mechanisms http://www.global-mechanism.org On 10-12 September 2008, the GM will convene a regional workshop, in conjunction with the UNCCD Secretariat and the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic, on financial resource mobilization for the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region.


The workshop will be held at the Mendel University of Forestry and Agriculture in Brno, Czech Republic, and is part of the regional initiative on financial resource mobilization for strengthening the implementation of the UNCCD for the Central and Eastern European  countries, launched in 2007. As an emerging donor in the region, the Government of the Czech Republic is leading the initiative, supported by the GM and the UNCCD Secretariat.


The event will follow on from a recent meeting on 3 June 2008, between the GM and the other partners of the initiative, the UNCCD Secretariat and the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic, held at the UNCCD Secretariat’s headquarters in Bonn, Germany, which advanced discussions on the initiative and made plans for the workshop. The meeting was an excellent example of the GM’s cooperation with the UNCCD Secretariat and with emerging donors.


While CEE countries have their own regional annex (Annex V) under the Convention, they have received less attention to date, compared to other affected country Parties. CEE countries, like many others, need to look more strategically at financing for rehabilitation of degraded land and sustainable land management (SLM); exploring both internal and external sources, possible avenues for partnership building, and the potential of sectors such as trade and market access, in order to increase investment flows into SLM and rehabilitation of degraded lands.


The regional initiative is a response to this. The overarching objective of the initiative is to enable focal points and other constituencies in CEE countries to commence the analysis required for the formulation of integrated financing strategies (IFS) leading to comprehensive investment frameworks as part of the iterative process inherent in the principles of the National Action Programmes (NAPs) and in line with the recently adopted Ten-Year Strategic Plan and Framework of the UNCCD.


This will mean taking a hard look at national policy, legislative and budgetary processes plus some of the subregional and regional ones; innovative sources of finance; and external funding processes and sources (bilateral, regional and multilateral) to find ways to tap existing sources and draw on others that until now have been underutilized.


The GM and the Czech Ministry of Environment have, respectively, produced two synthesis reports, based on data collated from questionnaires completed by the Focal Points of affected CEE country Parties and on information collected through a study on external financing. These reports will be shared with the CEE country partners and will feed into discussions and the outcomes of the workshop.



Ms Camilla Nordheim-Larsen, Financial Strategy Officer
Tel. +39 06 5459 2061
c.nordheim-larsen (at) global-mechanism.org
 
 
 Download the Concept Note for the September 2008 Workshop (pdf, English, 132 kb)


 Download Annex 5 of the UNCCD (pdf, English, 23 kb)
 

  Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:35:06 +0100 http://www.global-mechanism.org http://www.global-mechanism.org/news--events/news/climate-resilience-and-sustainable-land-management The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) currently has an enormous opportunity to foster the integration of the cross-cutting issues surrounding sustainable land management (SLM) into the broad context of international policy processes and into sustainable development at the country level.


Climate resilience and climate change risk management; adaptation; and mitigation are the most important drivers for sustainable use of natural resources such as water, soil and vegetation worldwide.


On the occasion of World Day to Combat Desertification, the GM would like to draw attention to the potential of the UNCCD as the main policy forum that brings together the themes of climate resilience food security and rural development through sustainable land management (SLM).


The GM is supporting developing countries in closing the considerable knowledge gap between line ministries, such as those for the environment and agricultural forestry and rural development, and the emerging ‘climate change finance regime’. For its part, the World Bank is offering a variety of opportunities, including the Strategic Climate Fund as a pilot for Least Developed Countries to achieve climate resilience in the context of sustainable development. The Strategic Framework on Climate Change and Development (SFCCD) for the World Bank Group which is currently under debate, is one of many strategic approaches being developed by international finance institutions such as the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and many of the bilateral agencies.


The UNCCD through policy and strategy development, and the GM through its direct support to countries, will play an instrumental role by assisting country Parties in integrating innovative financing opportunities, such as vertical climate funds, into development programming frameworks at country level. It is paramount that financing instruments like the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and its implementing/executing agencies that possess a wealth of synergized information on how to package investment frameworks for climate change resilience and SLM, be further strengthened by the international community. 


Land management is all about management of natural resources such as soil, water and vegetation. The High Level Conference on World Food Security: the Challenges of Climate Change and Biodiversity, held at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in Rome, Italy, 3-5 June 2008, was one of the latest highlights in the debate on investments into agriculture, community forestry, water management and rural development.


The major problem in food security is national and international priority setting and consequently finance for rural development. The Global Donor Platform for Rural Development, for instance, has published financial data on the decline of agricultural investments by international institutions and national governments in developing countries over the past decade.


The Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) and the Maputo Declaration of African Heads of State are a direct response to the anticipated problems in food and energy production and water management. For CAADP, drought and land degradation must be addressed as the most urgent development issues, particularly in the context of the most vulnerable rural communities and in fragile ecosystems. The UN Secretary General's High-Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis recently launched the draft for Elements of a Comprehensive Framework for Action, which looks at immediate needs of developing countries and longer-term global food security policies. While member states of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) pledged increased finance for food security at the FAO High-Level Conference, the World Bank (IBRD) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) launched initiatives such as the Global Food Crisis Response Facility and the New Deal for Global Food Policy - to name but a few.


The current strategy and policy debates around climate resilience, sustainable agriculture and food security point to the conclusion that none of these global challenges and threats to human well-being should be tackled in isolation, but as part and parcel of development programming at country level, supported by effective international policy making processes. The world is currently preparing for the Third High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness to be held in ACCRA in early September 2008 to evaluate the impact of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. Accra 2008: The bumpy road to aid effectiveness in agriculture, a paper published by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), echoes the call for innovative approaches to public expenditure support for the agricultural sector in terms of setting enabling frame conditions for production, trade and market access for rural communities.


The UNCCD is at the interface of highly dynamic processes. Innovative and forward looking interactions with these processes for comprehensive policy recommendations and strategy development offer enormous potential for the Convention. The GM has developed strategic programmes and built effective partnerships to support focal point institutions of country Parties of the Convention in increasing finance for sustainable land management making effective use of the interface between climate resilience, agriculture and rural development and poverty reduction in developing countries.


On World Day to Combat Desertification, the GM stands ready, in close cooperation with the UNCCD Secretariat, to induce and strengthen strategic discussions on finance for UNCCD implementation with all its partners, in particular with the International Fund for Agricultural Development - IFAD - its host and the world’s second largest investment fund for SLM.


Dr Christian Mersmann, Managing Director

Tel. +39 06 5459 2146

c.mersmann (at) global-mechanism.org
Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:04:07 +0100 http://www.global-mechanism.org/news--events/news/climate-resilience-and-sustainable-land-management http://www.global-mechanism.org

As part of its South-to south cooperation programme, SolArid, the GM is co-organizing an international workshop, in Praia, Cape Verde, from 16 to 20 June 2008, on capacity-building measures and exchanging experiences on issues related to developing integrated financing strategies (IFSs) in SolArid countries.


The workshop is being organized as a regional initiative in collaboration with the Ministry of the Environment and Agriculture of Cape Verde, and will provide an excellent opportunity for participants to draw on and build upon the GM’s extensive experience in West Asia and North Africa. It will bring together some thirty participants from UNCCD Focal Point Institutions, Ministries of Finance, Planning and Economic Development and also local authorities and NGOs.


The overall objective of the workshop is to promote a multistakeholder dialogue at the regional level on key issues related to resource mobilization for SLM, highlight specific challenges in combating desertification and poverty in the Sahel-Saharan region, encourage debate on potential solutions, and discuss specific support to the region from development partners.


In particular, the workshop aims to:

improve understanding and knowledge of decision-making processes related to public expenditure planning and allocation for UNCCD-related activities;
increase awareness on the importance of UNCCD National Action Plans (NAPs) in economic and social development strategies;
strengthen capacity to successfully identify local stakeholders’ needs and boost their resource mobilization skills;
reinforce understanding of procedures for accessing external and internal sources of finance; and
build awareness of innovative sources of finance, including those related to climate change, poverty reduction and decentralized cooperation.





For more information:


Mr Youssef Brahimi, Programme Coordinator, North Africa & South-to-South Cooperation

Tel. +39 06 5459 2584

y.brahimi (at) global-mechanism.org


Ms Ines Chaâlala, Junior Programme Officer, North Africa & South-to-South Cooperation

Tel. +39 06 5459 2548

i.chaalala (at) global-mechanism.org

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 08:39:39 +0100 http://www.global-mechanism.org http://www.global-mechanism.org/news--events/news/cooperation-agreement-signed-with-the-government-of-the-republic-of-mali On the occasion of the High-Level Policy Dialogue held in Bonn on 27 May 2008, the Minister of the Environment and Sanitation of Mali and the Managing Director of the Global Mechanism (GM) signed a cooperation agreement between the Government of the Republic of Mali and the GM.
 
Through this agreement, the GM has undertaken to provide technical and financial assistance to the Government during 2008 and 2009. Financial support will total six hundred and twenty-six thousand United States Dollars (USD 626000) - some three hundred million CFA Francs.
 
This agreement reaffirms the GM’s readiness to play its assigned role in implementing the Ten-year Strategic Plan and Framework to enhance UNCCD implementation (2008-2018), and particularly in achieving Objective 5 on financing and technology transfer.
 
The resources provided to the Republic of Mali will be used to assist Government in developing an integrated investment framework aimed at mobilizing domestic, bilateral and multilateral resources to increase the effectiveness and impact of actions in the sustainable land management sector, by fully supporting the implementation of the TerrAfrica Initiative at the national level.
 
The GM’s financial assistance will also be employed to identify and draw upon innovative sources of finance and financial mechanisms to combat desertification and land degradation within the private sector (cotton industry), by bringing market-based mechanisms into play (marketing and trade in Gum Arabic) and by taking up the financial opportunities available within the framework of climate change adaptation and mitigation.
 
For more information:
 
Mr François Tapsoba
Regional Advisor, West and Central Africa
f.tapsoba (at) global-mechanism.org
 
 



Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:41:20 +0100 http://www.global-mechanism.org/news--events/news/cooperation-agreement-signed-with-the-government-of-the-republic-of-mali