Asia and Africa eager for adaptation project funding

Jakarta Post (Indonesia): Delegates from Asian and African countries meeting here for the past four days are eager to adopt new development strategies to adapt to climate change for their respective countries, despite uncertainty surrounding funding. Although funding is not yet available and accessible, developing countries in Asia and Africa which are being most badly impacted by climate change need to develop proper adaptation strategies, a delegate said Friday.

"Whether you are responsible for the climate change or not, you have to do the adaptation. Otherwise, you will suffer most. That's why we need to find both finance and technology resources to cope with adaptation," JR Bhatt of India said at the end of the four-day workshop.

During the event, delegates learned how to develop adaptation strategies for their countries. They exchanged experiences and best practices, and heard from experts. Funding adaptation strategies was a major topic of discussion during the meeting, as delegates were anticipating an uphill battle during negotiations on the adaptation fund at the Bali conference on climate change next month.

Kenssy D. Ekaningsih, deputy director general for Asian, Pacific and African affairs at the Indonesia Foreign Ministry, noted that the Bali meeting should bring tangible results in terms of strengthening the adaptation fund and making it accessible to the countries most affected by climate change. "There is an urgent need to make operational the adaptation fund as soon as possible. Therefore, it is our hope that during the Bali meeting, a decision can be adopted on this issue," Kenssy said when closing the meeting.

The adaptation fund is taken from 2 percent of the market value of global carbon trading, but the fund's management is still contentious. Developed countries want it to be managed by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) which has the experience and expertise, while some developing countries want it to be handed over to a new institution, saying that getting funding from the GEF is difficult.

According to Yolando T. Velasco from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat, the adaptation fund is there, totaling between US$80 million and $300 million a year from 2008 to 2012, but the problem is the ability of developing countries to access money.

Among the requirements for accessing the fund is the availability of adaptation tools, strategies and programs, Velasco said. Velasco said the UNFCCC Secretariat supported Indonesia's initiative in holding the Yogyakarta workshop to improve the capacity of developing countries in Asia and Africa most affected by the adverse impacts of climate change. "While the meeting in Bali will discuss the availability of resources for adaptation, it is also important to build the capacity of countries to access this fund," Velasco said. Festus Luboyera, also from the UNFCCC Secretariat, said the meeting in Yogyakarta also "gives confidence" to the delegates from 25 countries in Asia and Africa, who will join negotiations at the upcoming Bali meeting.