Developing countries with less capacity to adapt are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Moreover, these regions are expected to face more intense and more frequent natural hazards as well as increasing global sea levels. Climate change significantly affects economy, health, agriculture, livelihoods and poverty levels of developing countries. Thus, the UNFCCC Climate Conference COP23 in Bonn, under the presidency of Fiji, emphasized need to scale up investments in climate adaptation and to build resilience of vulnerable regions.

The UNEP estimates that the costs of adaptation in developing countries alone could reach $300 billion per year by 2030.[1] In order to mobilize private finance for climate-change adaptation, the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) announced its contribution of USD 1 million for the Climate Resilience and Adaptation Finance and Technology Transfer Facility (CRAFT) – a new fund for resilience in the poorest countries during the UN Climate Change Conference COP23.

According to Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson:

“The tide is changing with respect to private sector support for resilience. Our role as a public institution is to share the risks. I hope the new equity fund, the first of its kind for the GEF, can serve as an example of how to get more private sector capital into the resilience space.”

The CRAFT aims to facilitate adaptation efforts in the world’s most vulnerable countries and to get more private sector capital into the resilience space. The CRAFT will target companies that provide either “resilience intelligence” (such as climate and catastrophe risk modeling, weather modeling and forecasting, precision agriculture data analytics, climate resilience consulting and water efficiency analytics), or “resilience solutions” (such as flood abatement equipment and services; precision agriculture sensors and equipment; irrigation technologies; drought resistant seeds and crops; micro-grid and energy storage systems for companies). The CRAFT is expected to mobilize as much as 500 million USD to invest in adaptation and consequently to catalyse a broader market for climate resolution solutions and investments.

The project will be executed and managed by the Lightsmith Group. Additional financing of EUR 500,000 was approved by the Nordic Development Fund.

The gLAWcal Team

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[1] CRAFT, a 2017 Global Lab instrument, receives USD 1.6 million from Nordic Development Fund and Global Environment Facility. Available at: https://www.climatefinancelab.org/news/craft-2017-global-lab-instrument-receives-usd-1-6-million-nordic-development-fund-global-environment-facility/