Thursday, December 11, 2008

Japan invests US$92 million to help Africa weather climate change

ReliefWeb: Twenty-one African countries are set to benefit from a US$92.1-million programme backed by the Japanese Government, which is designed to support their efforts to adapt to climate change. The details of where the money would be invested were finalized this week between Japan and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), coinciding with the International Climate Change Conference in Poznan, Poland.

Through the new programme, UNDP will work with the African countries to help them develop their capacity to plan, implement and monitor flexible, long-term development policies designed to weather the uncertainties of climate change, with the primary focus of ensuring that the most vulnerable people do not fall victim to rising temperatures and climate-induced shocks. The programme will also help participating governments to better tap the additional finance they will need to meet the cost of adapting to climate change.

"This adaptation programme addresses the urgent need to look at development differently," said Olav Kjorven, UN Assistant Secretary General and Director of UNDP's Bureau for Development Policy, stressing the importance of an integrated approach to tackling what he called the 'triple crisis' of climate change, finance and poverty.

…The 21 recipient countries were determined based on a number of criteria, including their vulnerability to climate change risks, their interests and needs and the priorities of the Japanese Government. Among 21 recipient countries, the countries which are in the process of preparation for the actual implementation, in coordination with the recipient governments, are Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Niger, Republic of Congo and Senegal, the countries which established Japan's $10 billion 'Cool Earth Partnership'. The establishment of the "Cool Earth Partnership" with other six countries is also under consultation….

Modern recut copy of "Behind the Great Wave at Kanagawa" (神奈川沖波裏), from 36 Views of Mount Fuji, Color woodcut

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