Nepal receives Rs 3.29 billion from GCF

 Nepal is getting Rs 3.29 billion funding from Green Climate Fund (GCF) to support climate activities.

The 26th board meeting of the GCF in Sangdo of South Korea yesterday approved Nepal’s proposal for the project ‘Improving Climate Resilience of Vulnerable Communities and Ecosystems in the Gandaki River Basin, Nepal’, according to Ministry of Forest and Environment.

“With the approval of the project, Nepal will get a financial grant of $27.4 million (over Rs 3.29 billion) for implementing the five-year project,” the ministry informed, adding that the project aims at improving the climate resilience of nearly 1.9 million people from 198,016 vulnerable households of the Gandaki River Basin. “The basin falls in 19 districts of three provinces – Bangamti Province (five districts), Gandaki Province (eleven districts) and Province 5 (three districts).”

These districts cover low-lying districts of Nawalparasi and Chitwan to the ones in the high mountains like Mustang and Manang.

The project will be implemented jointly by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) –a GCF accredited entity – and the Ministry of Forest and Environment. The IUCN will work on other components like capacity building, whereas the Forest Ministry will be the lead agency for implementing the project.

The main goal of the project is to protect the ecosystem and enhance communities’ livelihood through nature-based solutions. Watershed management, river conservation, protecting ecosystem services and improving livelihood are the major priorities. Through the project, the government is expected to mainstream the concept that river basins cannot be confined within the political boundary.

“The project is designed to improve the resilience of the communities and ecosystems in the basin area, according to the project,” the ministry claimed, adding that it is the second significant funding Nepal has received within a year from the GCF. “Last year in November, the 24th GCF board meeting had approved the first-ever funding proposal of Nepal.”

Earlier this year, Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) – the first and only GCF accredited entity – also signed a contract with GCF for seeking climate finance for Nepal’s climate actions. The AEPC received GCF accreditation in February 2019. The GCF accreditation status means the entity becomes eligible for claiming and accessing financial support of up to $50 million as its climate action partner.

Likewise, Nepal’s other climate finance support of $24 million under the Strategic Climate Fund from the World Bank was approved last month for implementing the Forest for Prosperity Project.

Two more climate change-related projects worth $7 million each from the Global Environment Facility were approved in August 2019 and April 2020. 

For the project, Building Resilient Churia Region in Nepal (BRCRN), to be implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in partnership with the Ministry of Forest and Environment, Nepal was awarded $39.3million in grant.

Nepal managed to receive the grant out of a tough and competitive process. According to the GCF, a Independent Technical Advisory Panel of the GCF sends queries regarding the project proposals which we have to respond. Then, there are also inquiries during the board meeting, before the project is approved.

For accessing funds from the GCF, a global platform that helps countries in their efforts to fight climate change by investing in low-emission and climate-resilient development, WWF Nepal and UNDP Nepal have also been working on their project proposals.

Nepal receives $39.3 million grant from Green Climate Fund

Nepal received its first significant funding from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) for a project aimed at helping the country adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change.
The 24th board meeting of the fund in Sangdo, South Korea today has approved the first funding proposal of Nepal, one of the most vulnerable countries to the impacts of the climate crisis. “The meeting has given the green signal to awarding a $39.3million grant to the project titled ‘Building Resilient Churia Region in Nepal (BRCRN),” according to a press note. “The current funding has been approved for the project which will be implemented on the ground to help climate-vulnerable communities and ecology to adapt.”
The project – that will last for 7 years – will be implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), in partnership with the Ministry of Forest and Environment, in the fragile Chure range, which has faced massive degradation in the past.
The approved project – a multi-dimensional one as it not only talks about the resilience of vulnerable communities and conservation but also early warning systems – will help locals in adapting to the changing climate as the Chure range is a significant zone for the people living in the low-lying districts in Terai for its services like water and forest.
As a poor and mountainous country, at the higher risk of climate change and induced disasters, Nepal looks up to international support for climate actions – adaptation and mitigation – in order to gain resilience, and also to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) was set up in 2010 under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to support the efforts of developing countries to respond to the challenge of climate change.
According an NGO working for sustainable development and environmental justice in Nepal Prakriti Resources Centre, this is the first-ever that the GCF has extended such substantial funding to the country for climate change-related projects. ““In the past, we have achieved some funds from the GCF, but this is the first time the fund has approved Nepal’s funding proposal,” the NGO informed, adding that it is an important achievement for Nepal. Prakriti Resources Centre has been involved in international climate negotiations for years.
Nepal had also received fundings from the GCF twice in the past. First in In 2016, Nepal received a grant of $2.9 million – via the United Nations Environment Programme for preparing its National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) – under the GCF's Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme. The programme to enhance country ownership and access to the funds was also known as Asia’s first GCF-financed project at the time.
Secondly, Nepal received another funding from GCF’s Readiness Support that provides up to $1 million per country per year for strengthening the country’s institutional capacities to access the funds. “Approval of funding for the project for climate actions is a positive development for a climate change vulnerable country like Nepal,” according to GCF Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme under the Finance Ministry.
Nepal is currently preparing at least three projects for accessing grants from the GCF. WWF Nepal has been working on a project proposal which will be based in West Seti area. Likewise, the UNDP Nepal is working on a project proposal to safeguard lives and livelihoods against the project to protect lives and livelihoods against flood and glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) targeting finance from the Green Climate Fund.
International Union for Conservation of Nature-Nepal is also developing a project proposal for building ecosystem and community resilience which is likely to be submitted for approval in coming March, the first one to go for approval among others in the pipeline.
However, these all are international agencies-supported projects. Accreditation of Alternative Energy Promotion Centre, one of the four national entities nominated by the government in February to gain the GCF status, in February has given new hopes for the country that the government bodies can also apply for similar grants for climate actions projects.
The GCF accreditation to the AEPC means it can access up to $50million in GCF funds for low-carbon, climate-resilient development projects and programmes in Nepal.

Photos of snow leopard in Gaurishankar released on World Environment Day

Officials of the Gaurishankhar Conservation Area – on the occasion of World Environment Day today – have revealed photographs of a snow leopard, confirming the animal’s presence in the forests of Dolakha. Snow leopards are on the endangered species list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The pictures were captured on a camera trap installed at Lapchi Valley in Bigu Rural Municipality-1, which is inside the Gaurishankar Conservation Area, on November 11, 2018. The images show a snow leopard in midwalk with his head and upper body in the frame.
“We had several cameras in operation for 200 hours straight in order to capture photographic evidence of the presence of snow leopards in the area,” Narayan Prasad Koju, who was involved in the research and investigation of snow leopards in Nepal, said, adding that they, however, don’t have a video footage available. “We used camera-trapping methodology to study snow leopards in the region.”
The infrared cameras were installed in 11 different places of Lapchi, at an altitude of 4,087 metres, from mid-September 2018 to mid-May 2019.
A conservation officer involved in the project Bishnu Pandey said that they are happy to share the photos with the public on World Environment Day. “Our cameras have also captured pictures of golden cat and 15 other species of mammals,” he said, “With photographic evidence, conservationists say the area can be declared as a snow leopard habitat, although the exact number of their population is not confirmed.”
However, pawprints, digging traces and faces of snow leopards in the conservation area point towards their number being around three to five at present, he added.
Nepal is one of the 12 countries where snow leopards are found. The estimated population of snow leopard is between 350 and 500 in Nepal. However, the country has not conducted any census of the animal.
Conservationists said that the number of snow leopard is declining due to habitat loss and increased poaching activities. Snow leopard, which lives around 5,000 to 6,000 metres above sea level, is considered a solitary animal.
According to WWF Nepal, snow leopard’s presence can be expected in eight protected areas of the country, Annapurna Conservation Area, Shey Phoksundo National Park, Kanchenjunga Conservation Area, Manaslu Conservation Area, Makalu Barun National Park, Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve, Sagarmatha National Park and Langtang National Park.