Media Statement
Green Climate Fund and Environmental Investment Fund (EIF) sign the Accreditation Master Agreement
Windhoek, 15 September 2021 –The Environmental Investment of Namibia (EIF) – the Fund - is delighted to announce that it has together with the Green Climate Fund (GCF) signed the Accreditation Master Agreement. The agreement is for another five (5) years.
The signing ceremony is a result of the EIF having been re-accredited to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) for a further 5-year period. This follows after the initial 5-year accreditation that lapsed in June 2021. The announcement by the GCF Secretariat came after the 4-day virtual meeting of the 30th meeting of the GCF Board recently held on 4th-7th October 2021. The re-accreditation was preceded by a rigorous institutional review and assessment of the Fund by the GCF.
The Fund was first accredited by the GCF in 2016 as a Direct Access Entity for country level programme delivery. To date, the Fund has, as a consequence, raised more than N$ 640 million for Climate Action Grants & Readiness Support from the GCF for the country.
The GCF is a fund within the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC), established to assist developing countries in adaptation and mitigation measures to counter climate change. It also an operating entity of the financial mechanism that serves the 2015 Paris Agreement, supporting the goal of keeping average global temperature rise well below 1.5°C.
The GCF is the world’s largest dedicated climate fund. GCF’s mandate is to foster a paradigm shift towards low emission, climate-resilient development pathways in developing countries. GCF has a portfolio of USD 10 billion (USD 37.2 billion including co-financing) delivering transformative climate action in more than 100 countries.
MEANING OF RE-ACCREDITATION AND SIGNING OF ACCREDITATION MASTER AGREEMENT
The re-accreditation and signing of the accreditation master agreement means that the EIF of Namibia is officially recognized as having the global recognized standards, competence, and governance systems to access the financial resources of the GCF. The re-accreditation assessment process took into consideration the fiduciary standards, good governance, transparency, leadership, risk management, Environment and Social Governance (ESG) system, and financial management systems of the EIF of Namibia and all other applying institutions.
The GCF funding is mainly availed in form of grants to finance climate change related programmes, including amongst others those relating to renewable energy generation and access, food and water security, ecosystems services, forest, and land use, increase resilience of rural livelihoods (e.g., aquaculture, conservation agriculture, rangeland management, climate resilient infrastructure, value addition, etc.), and sustainable urban transportation. This is dependent on the submission of bankable and viable proposals according to the following criteria: (i) Impact (contribution to the GCF results areas); (ii) Paradigm shift potential; (iii) Sustainable development potential; (iv) Needs of the recipient countries and populations; (v) Coherence with a country’s existing policies or climate strategies; and (vi) The effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed intervention, including its ability to leverage additional funding.
The role of the EIF as an implementing entity relates to the management and oversight of project implementation, which includes the origination and preparation of funding proposals, the subsequent management of the necessary stages of the implementation process until its conclusion on behalf of the GCF, and reporting obligations.
CONTRIBUTION TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
The EIF is well positioned to steer the country towards realizing the national development goals and eventually achieve a green economy that is sustainable. However, the institution requires additional support to further build its capacity that will enable it to access additional grant funding for Namibia. The re-accreditation of the EIF of Namibia to the GCF is an important step in this process. The EIF aims to raise funding from GCF totalling N$1.5 billion by the year 2026.
This type of funding will be used to create new much needed industries that will support economic growth in areas such as rural development; renewable energy; water management; environmentally-sound waste management systems; sustainable agriculture; recycling; green technology industries; ecosystem-based businesses; environmental research, training, bursaries, and scholarships; and green value chains in the manufacturing sector.
All the interventions mentioned earlier contribute to inclusive economic growth and poverty eradication, employment creation, and food and water security. It is estimated that a shift towards a greener economy in Namibia has the potential to create 3500 jobs within the next three years.
As a result of the signing of the re-accreditation that was attained last year, the fund has already started with legal instrument for re-accreditation that led to the Accreditation Master Agreement being signed and the EIF will has also since began with project development for submission to the GCF. The projects to be developed by the EIF are in line with the priorities identified under the 2021 updated National Determined Contribution. The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism being the National Designated Authority to the GCF provides guidance and support during the project preparation and no-objections on the proposed proposals to the GCF.
The GCF climate change resources accessed by the Fund thus far include the:
1. Climate Resilient Agriculture in three of the Vulnerable Extreme northern crop-growing regions (CRAVE) Project. The project aims to reduce climate vulnerability, increase the adaptive capacity and resilience of vulnerable small-scale farming communities in vulnerable extreme northern crop producing regions that are threatened by climate variability and change. The total GCF grant envelop amounts to US$ 9.5 million while the Government of the Republic of Namibia contributed US$ 500 000 co-financing. The project is being executed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform through an agreement with the Fund. This is a 5-year investment that covers the implementation period of 2016-2022.
2. Empower to Adapt-Creating Climate Change Resilient Livelihoods through Community Based Natural Resources Management in Namibia (CBNRM-EDA). The project strives to empower rural CBNRM communities to respond to climate change in terms of awareness, adaptive capacity and low-carbon rural development. The total grant envelope amounts to US$ 10 million and fully capitalised by the GCF. The project is being executed by the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism as the executing entity. This is also a 5-year project that runs from 2016-2022. To date, the project has allocated N$ 126 million in climate change adaptation funding directly to 33 community-based projects while its support covers a combination of 38 conservancies and community forests. The project has also made it possible for 77 000 rural area residents to have secure access to potable drinking water.
3. Improving rangeland and ecosystem management practices of smallholder farmers under conditions of climate change in Sesfontein, Fransfontein, and Warmquelle areas of the Republic of Namibia (IREMA). This initiative is exclusively ring-fenced for the drought-stricken Kunene and also runs over a 5-year period – 2019 -2024. The project aims to reduce the vulnerability of smallholder farmers under climate change conditions by safeguarding natural capital that generate ecosystem services to sustain agricultural production systems. GCF investment in this case amounts to US$ 9.3 million and matched by the Namibian Government contribution to the tune of US$700,000. This project is also executed by the MAWLR under an agreement with the Fund. Key activities include the development of an early warning system for disaster risk management, solar-retrofitting and rehabilitation of up to 20 boreholes, development of up to 300 backyard gardens and rehabilitation of Warmquelle and Khowarib Green Schemes.
4. Building Resilience of Communities Living in Eight Landscapes Threatened Under Climate Change Through an Ecosystems-Based Adaptation Approach. This is the youngest of the GCF investments and seeks to increase climate change resilience of 8 productive communal area landscapes, in 13 of Namibia’s political regions, through implementation of ecosystem-based adaptation actions that strengthen social and ecological systems to sustain livelihoods at local level and facilitate value chains of natural resources. The total GCF funding amounts to US$ 9.2 million while the Namibian Government contributes US$700,000. The project is executed by the Ministry of Environment Forestry and Tourism, also through an agreement with the Fund, and runs from 2019 – 2024. The project intends to benefit more than 216 000 (direct 60 000 and indirect 156 000) beneficiaries of which 50% will be women while the target is to reach 7.5% of Namibia's total population.
This signing ceremony demonstrates the cooperation, commitment and dedication of government of the Republic of Namibia but more specifically the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, Ministry of Finance,Office of the President, Ministry of international Relations and Cooperation, National Planning Commission, Office of the Attorney, Developmental and Multilateral partners, Board of Directors of the Fund, Chief Executive Officer of the Fund, our committed and competent staff members and all our stakeholders.
The Fund is delighted that with this signing ceremony, the tangible benefits of the new funding opportunities for various projects inline with Namibia’s developmental objectives agenda will start soon.
The signing ceremony took place on the sides of the second GCF Global Programming Conference will be held from 13 to 15 September 2022 in Incheon, Republic of Korea.
The Conference will bring together Ministers, GCF National Designated Authorities (NDA) or Focal Points (FP), Accredited Entities and Delivery Partners, to provide a platform for high-level dialogue on translating long-term low-emission and climate resilient strategies into investment plans.
The event took stock of the GCF´s role in enabling climate action and provided a stage for GCF stakeholders to inform the strategy for the second replenishment period to effectively respond to the increasingly urgent needs to address climate change and meet the Paris Agreement objectives. The Conference also an opportunity to advance country programming, share lessons from implementation and disseminate knowledge of GCF operational tools as well as strengthen the GCF partnership network.
Mr. Benedict Libanda, the Chief Executive Officer of EIF took part in a plenary discussion under the accreditation and partnership modalities to leverage GCF financing. The session provided a dialogue on how to identify the best-fitted partners for GCF investments. The GCF panellists provided an overview of the different ways to engage with GCF, including institutional accreditation and the Project-Specific Assessment Approach. National Designated Authorities (NDA’s)were invited to share their experiences on how they develop their national accreditation strategy and identify their accreditation candidates to fill in gaps in capabilities and coverage, ultimately contributing to reaching the country’s NDCs and broader climate objectives.
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Issued by:
Enviromental Investment Fund of Namibia
Office of the Chief Executive Officer
Communication and Corporate Services
Tel: +264 811601846/+264614317706
Email: COMMS@EIF.ORG.NA
About EIF
The Environmental Investment Fund is Namibia’s own response to the growing global need for green financing. Established in terms of the Environmental Investment Fund Act, Act 13 of 2001 with a mandate to raise funding for investments into projects and programmes that promote sustainable development it is currently one of the fastest growing green and climate financing institutions in Africa. As part of its vision to be “a recognized leader in the development and application of innovative financing mechanisms to support sustainable development and ensuring inclusive development for all the people of Namibia.
Amongst its recognizable impacts to date since inception, the Fund has disbursed grants valued at more than N$ 583 million, ensured that more than 240, 256 hectares of land are under conservation, 71 grants approved for different environmental projects, created more than 950 employment opportunities mostly rural based and include season ones and retrofitted 120 boreholes that benefitted more than 77 000 who now have access to portable drinking water and attracted N$ 820 million for concessional Green Credit Line with participating commercial bank from Agence Française de Développement (AFD) under the SUNREF project in Namibia. To-date attracted and mobilised more than N$1.7 billion mostly from multilateral and developmental funding institutions and partners.
For more information visit: http://www.eif.org.na/
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is the world’s largest dedicated climate fund. GCF’s mandate is to foster a paradigm shift towards low emission, climate-resilient development pathways in developing countries. GCF has a portfolio of USD 10 billion (USD 37.2 billion including co-financing) delivering transformative climate action in more than 100 countries. It also has a readiness support programme that builds capacity and helps countries develop long-term plans to fight climate change. GCF is an operating entity of the financial mechanism of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and serves the 2015 Paris Agreement, supporting the goal of keeping average global temperature rise well below 2°C.
For more information visit: http://www.greenclimate.fund/
