Climate, Environment & Energy Key Financing Sources

Activities in the region stem from national, regional and global mandates and are being funded by a wide variety of sources such as UNDP core funds (TRAC), government funds and donor contributions at the national level; UNDP core funds at the regional level through the Regional Climate Change, Energy and Ecosystems Project (RCCEEP); Mangroves for the Future (MFF) and Poverty Environment Initiative (PEI) at the regional level; and at the global level resources are coming from The Global Environment Facility (GEF), Montreal Protocol, Adaptation Funds, MDG Carbon, UN-REDD and the Spanish MDG Fund.

Global Environment Facility (GEF)

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is a global partnership among 178 countries, international institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and the private sector to address global environmental issues while supporting national sustainable development initiatives. It provides grants for projects related to six focal areas: biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, the ozone layer, and persistent organic pollutants. GEF funds a variety of project types, ranging from its Small Grants Programme (SGP), to Enabling Activities, Medium-Sized Projects (MSPs), and Full-Sized Projects (FSPs), including the use of the Project Preparation Grant (PPG) to prepare them.

UNDP is one of the GEF agencies, alongside the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the World Bank and others. GEF-funded projects and activities are mainstreamed into the UNDP programme.  UNDP GEF funded project information and documents can be searched for in the online GEF project database. The UNDP Climate, Environment and Energy team currently supports over 300 of these projects.

   

GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP)

UNDP is responsible for implementing the Small Grants Programme on behalf of GEF. The Small Grants Programme supports activities of non-governmental and community-based organizations in developing countries towards climate change abatement, conservation of biodiversity, protection of international waters, reduction of the impact of persistent organic pollutants and prevention of land degradation while generating sustainable livelihoods. SGP project information can be searched for in the online SGP Project Tracking System.

   

Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF)

The Global Environment Facility operates the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF), which was created under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The SCCF is available to finance projects relating to climate adaptation; technology transfer and capacity building; energy, transport, industry, agriculture, forestry and waste management; and economic diversification. 

  

Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF)

The Global Environment Facility additionally operates the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) which was also established under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The LDCF is available to assist Least Developed Country Parties (LDCs) to carry out, inter alia, the preparation and implementation of National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs) and for co-financing the implementation of priority adaptation projects.

Links

• GEF website
• UNDP-GEF website
• GEF project database
• GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP)
• UNDP Small Grants Programme (SGP)Tracking System
• Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF)
• Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF)

UNDP MDG Carbon Facility

Over the last five years, UNDP has been an active participant in the carbon finance arena, and in June 2007 launched the UNDP MDG Carbon Facility. The facility offers project development and management services to emission reduction projects and bringing them to market. The Facility works with projects in a wide range of sectors and in locations across the world. Through UNDP, the Facility provides project development services, technical support and in-country guidance.

The MDG Carbon Facility is an innovative mechanism for harnessing the vast resources of the carbon market in order to bring long-term sustainable development and poverty reduction benefits to a wider range of developing countries and project types, particularly in those countries that are currently under-represented in the carbon market. The MDG Carbon Facility provides services to a wide range of project types. These projects, of small to large scales, are viable with carbon revenues and are appropriate to the development objectives of the host country. Project types include: renewable energy, energy efficiency, fuel switching, agricultural waste management, biomass and biogas usage, and capture of fugitive emissions from landfills and industrial sources. Some projects will bridge several of these sectors.

One of the areas in which UNDP’s MDG Carbon Facility is seeking to expand its activities is the rapidly increasing voluntary emission reduction market. An expansion of its scope is foreseen with respect to non-Kyoto gases, in particular the funding of suitable projects that aim to phase-out ozone depleting substances, an area in which UNDP has long-standing expertise. UNDP’s current role as Lead Agency for a significant number of countries seeking to phase out HCFCs puts it in a unique position to help countries identify and develop appropriate greenhouse gas emission reduction projects while building market credibility and managing risks appropriately.

MDG Carbon Facility Links

• UNDP MDG Carbon Facility Website

Regional Climate Change, Energy and Ecosystems Project

The UNDP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific has initiated a regional climate change, energy and ecosystems project (RCCEEP) as part of its suite of regional projects for 2008-2011. The RCCEEP aims to:  1) enhance institutional capacities to manage, adapt and monitor climate change, and leverage carbon financing; and 2) enable the poor with improved access to ecosystem assets and sustainable and affordable energy services. The RCCEEP has three components which are interlinked yet distinguishable.

Climate Change

The Climate Change component of RCCEEP will combine work at the policy level (climate proofing development plans) with work at the project level (mobilizing resources for investments in clean energy, bio-carbon and adaptation interventions). RCCEEP will provide private and public sector partners access to global, regional and national sources of funding i.e. the carbon markets and adaptation funds, for promoting climate change mitigation and adaptation solutions with a particular focus on scaling up the work under the MDG Carbon Facility (MDGCF).

Energy

The Energy component will focus efforts on: 1) Mainstreaming energy access considerations into MDG-based national development strategies/poverty reduction strategies; and 2) Developing local institutional capacity to deliver energy services for the poor, building on regulatory mechanisms and policy prescriptions implemented successfully in the region.

Ecosystems

The Ecosystems component of RCCEEP will (i) provide policy advisory support (using resident RCB expertise and partnering with agencies with complementary expertise) toward accounting for the full value of natural ecosystems, including within legislation, development plans and climate adaptation strategies and (ii) support programme countries towards increasing their access to global and regional sources of funding through the formulation and effective implementation of initiatives for the maintenance of critical ecosystem services.