Addressing a longtime expressed need, a partnership for climate resilient water project development in Asia for the GCF was set in motion at the end of the workshop.
The technical workshop was organised by the Global Water Partnership (GWP), in collaboration with the Asia Pacific Adaptation Network (APAN), Asia Pacific Water Forum, and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), hosted by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), with technical inputs from the Green Climate Fund Secretariat and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
The workshop responded to countries’ needs and expressed demand for support to strengthen the capacity of NDAs, DAEs, and Water Ministries and agencies to prepare climate resilient water projects that meet GCF investment criteria. Participants engaged in hands-on learning on the GCF investment criteria, operational modalities and procedures for delivering climate finance through different GCF funding windows. They considered fit-for-purpose examples of project design and financing instruments available through the GCF and through other funds and financing mechanisms across Pan-Asia.
Countries shared their experiences and lessons in accessing GCF resources. Through interactive, hands-on exercises over two days, NDAs, DAEs, and water decision makers worked on 30 country-prioritized water project ideas to sharpen their climate rationale and paradigm shift potential. The workshop is the second one in a series of regional workshops, with the first one held in South Africa in September 2018 with 24 African countries and regional financial institutions.
Participants expressed a strong desire to continue collaborating after the workshop across countries and with partners to share experiences and support one another as they advanced their project ideas to GCF concept note stage.
Responding to this desire, partners of this workshop laid the foundation for the partnership for climate resilient water project development in Asia to provide a platform for countries to exchange knowledge and lessons as their experience in preparing, financing, and implementing water projects grows, particularly in the context of the GCF.
The partnership aims to provide a structured resource for Asian countries to continue accessing strategic and technical support to prioritize and prepare climate resilient water projects via a facilitated, flexible mechanism that enables peer to peer and demand-driven technical assistance with NDAs, DAEs, national water agencies in collaboration with technical partners. Co-organizers and participants of the workshop, and relevant entities beyond, are invited to join the partnership.
According to a 2016 UNFCCC survey of country climate action priorities, water is the most-cited pathway through which countries experience climate impacts and also the most-often prioritized sector through which countries seek to build resilience in their economies, their populations’ livelihoods, and their natural ecosystems.
But when it comes to preparing and implementing adaptation projects, few of these water actions make it from priority lists to action on the ground. Barriers cited by countries include capacity limitations within countries, and weak coordination among in-country entities including Ministries of Water, Ministries of Planning, and Ministries of Finance. Limited understanding of GCF investment requirements, financing instruments, and inexperience in structuring project finance pose further barriers in accessing required resources.
The partnership will continue to build on the momentum of this workshop, with NDAs, DAEs, and ministries supporting one another to overcome barriers, drawing on the increasing expertise across the continent. Furthermore, recognizing that aspects of water projects that deliver development benefits that do not directly address climate impacts require co-financing from other sources such as government or private sector, the partnership will work with active and relevant existing financing partners for project preparation to appropriately structure financing for climate resilient GCF water projects across Pan-Asia.
For more information, please visit the workshop website:
http://gwp.org/en/GCF-AsiaWorkshop
To join the partnership country governments, NDAs, DAEs, national, regional, and international organisations are invited to contact Mr. Fany Wedahuditama (fany.wedahuditama@gwpsea.org)