The Board of the Green Climate Fund today approved several new projects, including one for Côte d'Ivoire that marks the first time the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has helped an African country obtain a grant from the international entity. Along with the $11.8 million approval for Côte d'Ivoire, other two FAO-led projects in Armenia and Colombia, for a total amount of $58.5 million, including $10.5 million in cofinancing, received approval from the Green Climate Fund, a unique global platform mandated to invest in low-emission and climate-resilient development. "These approvals show that FAO is a strong partner for Members looking...

Today the Green Climate Fund (GCF) approved US $ 28 million to support Colombia in its efforts to fight deforestation in 10 districts of the Amazon biome. The project will be implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in collaboration with Colombia’s Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development. By utilising funds received through the results based payments scheme, the project will help boost Colombia's Comprehensive Strategy to Control Deforestation and Forest Management (ENREDD +), foster green economic growth and enhance the sustainable and inclusive governance of natural resources. "This approval is a recognition of Colombia's effort in...

The Board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) today approved an $11.8 million project to support zero-deforestation cocoa production in Côte d’Ivoire, to be implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in collaboration with the country’s Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MINEDD). The project is the first REDD+ proposal in Africa and globally to be approved under the GCF’s Simplified Approval Process Pilot Scheme (SAP). It is also the first GCF funding proposal approved for FAO in Africa. Out of the $11.8 million, the project will receive $0.5 million in co-financing from the Global Environment...

Youth can have a catalytic role in charting a new course for forests and climate action under the Paris Agreement. Yet, they are often overlooked. The theme of the International Youth Day 2020, “Youth Engagement for Global Action” seeks to highlight the ways in which the engagement of young people at the local, national and global levels is enriching national and multilateral institutions and processes. Providing youth with the necessary forestry skills, education, and access to technology, can play a key role in enabling and accelerating inputs from youth – which is desperately needed for forest and climate action. On 15...

Since March 2020, we have witnessed numerous parallels between COVID-19 and the climate crisis, including a lack of cohesive, coordinated global intervention and a laissez-faire response to a global emergency. Inadequate government response to the pandemic has led to preventable deaths from a highly contagious virus, just as inadequate government responses to the climate crisis could result in exacerbated effects by drought, fires or flooding as well as rising food insecurity. These risks are fast approaching their tipping points. COVID-19 has inundated our lives with numbers and social media updates to the point of statistical overload, a phenomenon WHO refers to as an...