Private Sector Engagement Facility

The SCALA Private Sector Engagement Facility was launched at the COP26 by the programme to foster stronger partnerships and dialogue between public and private sector actors through demand-led approaches based on countries’ national agriculture and land use sector priorities. It seeks to identify private sector-oriented interventions to engage businesses in implementing climate plans to mobilize resources and develop innovative climate services solutions.

The Facility is available to support 12 non-SCALA countries and will draw on tools, emerging lessons, and partnerships development under the programme.

There is a major financing gap for the agriculture, forestry, and land use sectors. The private sector can play a more substantial role given the emerging investment opportunities in this space. In addition to helping bridge the financing gap, the private sector is an important source of technical knowledge, human capital, and innovation. By working with the private sector, public sector climate change interventions can target changes at multiple entry points in the agri-food system and scale-up their impact.

In 2022, SCALA opened a call for applicants through UNFCCC Focal Points of countries, focusing on Least Developed Countries, and received expression of interest from 9 countries (90 percent in Africa and 10 percent in Asia and the Pacific. To date, 5 Letters of Agreement (LoA) have been signed with Sao Tome and Príncipe, Solomon Islands, Somalia, the Gambia, and Niger.

In 2023, a call for interest was conducted to receive support from the SCALA PSE Facility, and five new countries were selected: Belize, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Uzbekistan, and Zambia.

Applications were submitted by governments through the Ministry of Environment/UNFCCC Focal Points in consultation with the Ministry of Agriculture and other relevant public institutions involved in climate change mitigation. The process began with a call for Expression of Interest (EoI) from the SCALA team to UNFCCC focal points, requesting EoIs to access the support of the Facility.

For further details regarding eligibility and selection criteria, timeline, and expected impacts, please refer to the SCALA PSE facility brief (available at this link). Countries requested support based on their needs from a broad menu of options.

More information on the portfolio of services available for countries is in the figure below.

SCALA will deploy a pool of national and international vetted experts who will provide targeted and timely assistance, in the form of technical trainings, studies, workshops, dialogues and roundtables, market and value chain analyses and delivery support on topics related to land use and agriculture. SCALA will draw from regional networks, coalitions, and research centers to provide country-specific tailored support.