By Shree Ram Subedi
Kathmandu, August 21: Nepal has secured a second major climate change project to be funded by the Green Climate Fund(GCF) within a year.
The GCF board on Wednesday approved a US dollar 27.4 million project to Nepal to improve the climate resilience of vulnerable communities and ecosystems in Nepal. The project to be implemented in Gandaki river basin was endorsed by the 26th board meeting of the GCF, which was held virtually from August 16-19.
In November 2019, the 24th GCF Board meeting held in Songdo, Republic of Korea had approved a US Dollar 39.3 million for Building a Resilient Churian Region in Nepal, with the aegis of Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO).
GCF is a world’s largest dedicated fund helping developing countries reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and enhance their ability to respond to climate change. It was set up by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC) in 2010.
GCF’s 24 Board members represent developing and developed countries equally. It was the first GCF Board meeting held virtually in the face of the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic.
The project proposal was developed under the leadership of the Ministry of Forest and Environment(MoFE) with the technical assistance from IUCN and National Trust for Nature Conservation(NTNC).
With the implementation period of seven years, the project will cover 19 different districts from Province 3, 5 and Gandaki Province and would benefit 198,016 households.The total project size would be of US Dollar 32.7 million with the contribution from local project implementing partners in kind, according to the information posted in GCF website.
“The success of the project reflects international recognition of Nepal’s commitment to climate change,” says Dr Maheshwor Dhakal, Chief of Climate Change Management Division, who is also a national focal point for UNFCCC.
The broader objective of the project includes building resilience from climate vulnerability, enhancing resilience of climate vulnerable ecosystems and community, and climate governance.
The project would cover activities ranging from agroforestry to agriculture production enhancement with the special focus on nature based solutions, according to Dr Pralad Thapa, Country Representative of IUCN.
Also recharge of water resources in pastureland and grassland, slope stabilization and afforestation would be other activities under the project. A federal level steering committee would be headed by the secretary of forestry while a provincial coordination unit would be established at the province level. Field offices are slated to be established in all 19 project districts.
– Republica