CIF Projects Focus on Climate Resilience and Forests

1 July 2011: The Climate Investment Funds (CIF) approved US$444 million in grants and near-zero-interest loans to support five nation-wide strategic programmes for climate resilience in Cambodia, Mozambique, Nepal, St. Lucia, and Zambia, as well as US$90 million in grants for sustainable forest management (SFM) and REDD+ (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries, as well as conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of carbon stocks) initiatives in Burkina Faso and Congo DRC.

The climate resilience programmes will focus on: improving irrigation, flood and drought management, climate-resistant agriculture and forestry in coastal areas in Cambodia; improving the capacity of roads and coastal cities to withstand climate change, transforming their hydro-meteorological services, and enhancing climate-resilient agricultural production and food security in Mozambique; building climate resilience of watersheds in mountain regions, building resilience to climate-related hazards, and building climate-resilient communities through private sector participation in Nepal; building national climate resilience (as part of the Caribbean Regional Program) in St. Lucia; and strengthening climate resilience in Barotse and the Kafue River Basin in Zambia.

These countries join Bangladesh, Grenada, and St. Vincent and Grenadines as the first countries to create Strategic Programs for Climate Resilience (SPCRs) linked to their development plans with CIF support. Forest investment projects are focusing on encouraging participatory protection of state forest reserves, and addressing deforestation and degradation, as well as engaging the private sector in REDD+.

In addition, additional donor support was recently announced for scaling-up renewable energy in low-income countries, with the pledges by Norway (US$28 million equivalent) and Australia (US$ 27 million equivalent).

The US$6.5 billion CIF are a global partnership of the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and the World Bank Group. The financing announcements made during the annual CIF Committee Meetings coincided with the 2011 CIF Partnership Forum, which took place from 24-25 June 2011, in Cape Town, South Africa. [World Bank Press Release] [IISD RS Coverage of the CIF Partnership Forum]