UNDP joins call for climate action

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) welcomed a landmark speech by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, in which he said that climate change is “the defining issue of our time – and we are at a defining moment”.

UNDP supports a climate portfolio of $3 billion supporting climate action in over 140 countries with over 700 climate projects globally.

Examples of UNDP’s work:

• In Egypt, about 20 percent of the Nile Delta, and more than 6 million people, is at risk from rising sea levels and increased intensity of climatic disasters. UNDP is helping partners put in place the new coastal infrastructure to defend communities and agriculture fields, alongside enhanced early warning systems and integrated coastal zone management policies and plans.
• In Trinidad & Tobago, UNDP is working to support a national conversion program to CNG (compressed natural gas) for the transport sector, which results in fewer greenhouse gas emissions, is less expensive, and increases the availability of fuel for export.
• UNDP is assisting governments in de-risking renewable energy by putting in place the necessary policies to attract capital at scale. In Armenia, $20 million in Green Climate Fund grant financing is being used to create a favorable market environment and a scalable business model for investment in energy-efficient building retrofits. This is expected to catalyze private and public sector investment of approximately $100 million, directly benefiting over 200,000 people.
• UNDP and WMO are collaborating with the World Bank and other partners to scale up support for strengthening early warning and climate information systems across a number of countries in Africa, with financing from the Green Climate Fund (GCF). This work focuses on ensuring climate information is generated, disseminated and used to build resilience to climate-related impacts. This scaling-up support builds on UNDP’s successful experience supporting 11 African countries with financing from the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) and other partners.
• In Indonesia, UNDP is supporting the issuance of a $1.25 billion Islamic green bond, or Sukuk, making this the first country to issue a sovereign bond exclusively aimed to fund climate change in a manner that is compliant with Islamic law. The proceeds will be allocated to climate or environment-related projects that contribute to climate action and the preservation of biodiversity. This green sukuk is a critical tool for the Government in its commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 29 percent by 2030 and for renewable energy to make up one-quarter of its energy mix by 2025, up from around 12 percent today.
• More than 48 countries are being supported on country-led planning and preparedness for climate change adaptation (National Adaptation Plan processes), through the largest coalition among UN agencies including UNDP, UNEP, WHO, FAO, UNITAR, UNFCCC and UNISDR and other key partners.

Original source: UNDP
Published on 10 September 2018