Financing the preparation and implementation of NAPAs in response to urgent and immediate adaptation needs.

LDCF resources now amount to more than half a billion dollars (US $537 Million)  

What is the LDCF?

The LDCF was established to address the special needs of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs)under the Climate Convention. The LDCs identified adaptation as their top priority. Specifically, the LDCF was tasked with financing the preparation and implementation of National Adaptation Programs of Action (NAPAs). NAPAs use existing information to identify a country’s priorities for adaptation actions. The LDCF is the only existing fund whose mandate is to finance the preparation and implementation of the NAPAs.  

Consistent with the findings of the NAPAs, the LDCF focuses on reducing the vulnerability of those sectors and resources that are central to development and livelihoods, such as water; agriculture and food security; health; disaster risk management and prevention; infrastructure; and fragile ecosystems.

NAPA implementation projects under LDCF are designed entirely in accordance with country priorities and executed by national stakeholderse, and involving active participation of vulnerable communities, enabling LDCs to assume leadership of the agenda that will define their future.

Facts and Figures

As of June 2012, $346 million have been approved for projects and enabling activities. Since its inception, the LDCF has funded the preparation of 48 NAPAs, of which 47 have been completed, while the remaining one is in the final stages of preparation. Moreover, 46 countries have officially submitted NAPA implementation projects for approval by the LDCF/SCCF Council or the GEF CEO.

The LDCF now supports 74 projects and 1 program in 44 countries, totaling $334.6 million and leveraging $1.59 billion in co-financing. The graph below reflects LDCF cumulative approvals, as of June 2012. 

As of June 15, 2012, some $537 million had been pledged to the LDCF. The graph below reflects the contributions per donor country 

The graph below illustrates the regional distribution of LDCF, as of June 2012.

Accessing LDCF Resources

At its 16th meeting in Cancun, Mexico, the COP adopted a decision providing further guidance for the operation of the Least Developed Countries Fund. Further to this decision, the SBI requested the Least Developed Countries Expert Group (LEG) to discuss with the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and its agencies: ways to further improve access to funds from the LDCF, the disbursement of funds, the design of implementation strategies for NAPAs using a programmatic approach, ways to best communicate co-financing requirements under the LDCF, and remaining challenges faced by least developed country Parties in working with GEF agencies, during the first meeting of the LEG in 2011.

In response to this guidance, the GEF Secretariat has, among other things, developed a user-friendly guide on how to access LDCF resources.

Relevant Links

• Accessing Resources Under the Least Developed Countries Fund
• LDCF Project Highlights
• Joint Evaluation of the LDCF
• Progress Report on the LDCF and the SCCF
• Status Report on the LDCF and the SCCF

LDCF Contacts at the Global Environment Facility