Adaptation Fund raises nearly US$ 116 million in new pledges for adaptation action in most vulnerable countries

Recognizing the Adaptation Fund’s tangible and effective adaptation actions on the ground for the most vulnerable and its growing portfolio of work, several contributor governments came forward with new pledges to the Fund totaling nearly US$ 116 million.

Coinciding with the 5th Anniversary of the Paris Agreement and Climate Ambition Summit 2020, pledges and contributions to the Fund included those from Germany (EUR 50 million), Italy (EUR 30 million), and Sweden (US$ 15.2 million, a quarter of its four-year pledge made last year), as well as Belgium’s Walloon Regional Government (EUR 3.8 million) and Brussels-Capital Regional Government (EUR 185,000) — totaling an equivalent of nearly US$ 116 million.

The total represents a remarkable effort during a challenging economic year ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although it fell just shy of the Fund’s US$ 120 million resource mobilization target for 2020, it is possible more new pledges may follow.

Mr. Ibila Djibril, Adaptation Fund Board Chair, expressed his sincere thanks for all of the new pledges, as well as previous contributions. “We are very grateful to all of the contributors of the Adaptation Fund. Rest assured, it is money well-spent and will help us reach more vulnerable communities and countries with urgently needed concrete adaptation actions,” he said. “The Adaptation Fund continues to grow, with 115 projects in more than 100 countries serving 27 million total beneficiaries. Many projects are creating scalable models, while building country ownership through Direct Access. We also see many projects adapting directly to help vulnerable communities build resilience amid the COVID-19 pandemic, both to climate change, as well as health, environmental and economic risks.”

The Fund’s Board recently raised its resource mobilization target by 30 percent to account for the continuing urgency of adaptation action, record demand for projects it continues to receive, its expanding actions under its strategic pillars of Action, Innovation and Learning and Sharing, and an approximate US$ 280 million active project pipeline.