Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Tuvalu urges capacity building from Adaptation Fund Board

Stanley Simpson and Climate Pasifika Media Team in Scoop: Tuvalu’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Enele Sopoaga has urged the climate change Adaptation Fund Board to provide greater capacity building for islands that are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. “The issue of capacity is real and should be addressed seriously,” Sopoaga told Board chairman Farouk Khan.

“I urge the Board to conduct workshops training and awareness development at regional and national level to enable these countries to draft and come up with proposals that can be submitted for consideration. “

The Adaptation Fund Board approves funding to countries that meet the criteria for climate change adaptation projects. However Sopoaga pointed out that Small Island States were struggling to fulfill the eligibility criteria to access funds.

“In order for entities to be accredited as National Implementing Agencies they have to prove capacity for sound financial management and sound reporting practices among others – many of our small island countries don’t have that capacity because of our limited human capacity, and also our limited infrastructure,” said Sopoaga….

A beach at Funafuti atoll, Tuvalu, shot by Stefan Lins, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license

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