Dar es Salaam. The Minister of State in the Vice President Office (Union and Environment), Dr Selemani Jafo, called for Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) to complete the process of obtaining the second accreditation for the National Conservation and Environmental Management Council (NEMC).
According to environmental experts, the process will enable NEMC to get funds that will help with activities that facilitate climate adaptation.
Jafo said this today when he held a bilateral meeting with Head of the Adaptation Fund, Mikko Ollikainen, and his team in a side event at the 28th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC-COP 28), which is ongoing in Dubai, United Kingdom of Arabic, today, December 5, 2023.
Dr Jafo noted that “NEMC, which is in charge of the funds in Tanzania, has been given the accreditation process for about two years now, so that process should be completed.”
In addition, Minister Jafo has emphasized that the Secretariat of the Fund should speed up reviewing the annual reports of ongoing projects, pass them, and allow the funds for the following year to be released.
Initial accreditation
The world’s climate change adaptation fund, through the Adaptation Fund Board, approved and supported the implementation of two of the four projects submitted to NEMC worth US$2.2 million (Sh5.5 billion) in 2020.
The projects, which are “fighting climate change in pastoral and farmer communities in Kongwa District” and “fighting climate change in the communities of the Coast of Zanzibar,” all have the aim of solving the challenges of climate change in the areas.
The projects are coordinated by NEMC and implemented by the institutions that won the projects (executing entities), which for the Kongwa project is the Foundation for Energy, Climate, and Environment (FECE) collaborating with the Kongwa District Council, and the Zanzibar project is the Office of the Second Vice President of Zanzaibar.
Stakeholder’s opinions
Forum CC program manager, Msololo Onditi, said there are two ways to get money from the global adaptation fund: one for accredited institutions and an indirect method for those without accreditation.
“What happened was that NEMC got accreditation and got funds for the first phase, and after the implementation, they have the right to get accreditation again, and according to the rules, if you have done well, you can even be given twice the initial funds,” he said.
According to Minister Jafo, the government will continue to ensure that all institutions applying for the fund succeed in obtaining registration in order to access them.
Apart from representatives from the Fund, the meeting was also attended by the Director of Environmental Studies, Dr. Menan Jangu, and Fredrick Mulinda, both from NEMC.
More about the adaptation fund accreditation and COP28
From the funds website, the accreditation process of the Adaptation Fund aims to ensure that the entity follows fiduciary and safeguard standards while accessing the financial resources of the Adaptation Fund.
During the Adaptation Fund’s accreditation process, each type of entity will undergo an assessment for accreditation to make sure the entity adheres to sound accreditation standards and implements effective social and environmental safeguards to identify any project risks in advance, prevent any harm, and improve the effectiveness and sustainability of results.
On December 4, 2023, the Adaptation Fund mobilizes nearly $160 million (Sh400 billion) in new pledges at COP28 for the most climate-vulnerable.
The concrete work of the Adaptation Fund on the ground in supporting the most climate-vulnerable through tangible adaptation projects and accessible innovative financing was universally praised at the Fund’s Contributor Dialogue, with several contributors coming forward to announce new pledges.
This story was produced with support from MESHA and IDRC Eastern and Southern Africa office