India’s National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) signed an Accreditation Master Agreement (AMA) with the Green Climate Fund on Thursday.
“We need to take cognizance of the population size and income inequality and cannot ignore the basic requirement of electricity, housing and food for the poor. We expect GCF to partner with us on these issues and prioritize their work to overcome these challenges,” Dr Harsh Vardhan said.
The GCF was set up in 2010 under the UNFCCC’s financial mechanism to channel funding from developed countries to developing countries to allow them to mitigate climate change and also adapt to disruptions arising from a changing climate. It was central to the Paris climate agreement signed in 2015, that the world’s largest historical emitter, U.S, announced it would leave.
One of the sticking points for the U.S. is the funding that has been promised to developing countries like India through UNFCCC’s financial mechanism.
India has laid down ambitious goals under the climate agreement but these are contingent upon receiving low-cost finance from sources like the GCF. Till now, only one project Installation of Groundwater Recharge System in Odisha is underway using funds from GCF amounting to $34 million. Several projects have been proposed and are in the pipeline.
With the signing of the AMA, NABARD becomes the first Indian organisation to get Direct Access Entity status and is the first step for the body to access GCF resources.
{{/usCountry}}With the signing of the AMA, NABARD becomes the first Indian organisation to get Direct Access Entity status and is the first step for the body to access GCF resources.
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