36th LDCF/SCCF Council Meeting

The Council spent the bulk of the third day in the Council meetings of the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF) and the Least Developed Countries Fund/ Special Climate Change Fund (LDCF/SCCF), approving the largest-to-date LDCF work program, in the amount of $203 million.

In opening the meeting of the LDCF/SCCF Council, GEF CEO and Chairperson Carlos Manuel Rodríguez noted it can be hard to understand the impact of the LDCF/SCCF work around the world. He invited Council members to watch a video from a visit to an LDCF/SCCF project site in Bhutan, on improving planning in two urban areas.

The LDCF work program included two programs and national projects in Angola, Cambodia, Chad, Comoros, Gambia, Guinea, Lao PDR, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Somalia, and Tanzania. The two program proposals consisted of:

• a global program focused on adaptation innovation, including Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi and Somalia;
• and a multi-trust fund program for the Great Green Wall Initiative involving Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, and Mauritania.

All projects considered in the work program had embedded gender equality considerations at the initial design stage. The projects and programs focus on: agriculture, fisheries and food security; nature-based solutions; water resources management; climate information services and early warning systems; disaster risk management; coastal zone management; climate-resilient transport; and urban resilience.

The LDCF/SCCF Council also considered and approved the FY23 Annual Monitoring Review of the LDCF and SCCF with many Council members expressing how pleased they were with the good performance of both funds, especially the gender specific results and the large participation of African countries.