The 2011 Climate Investment Funds (CIF) Partnership Forum took place from 24-25 June 2011 in Cape Town, South Africa. The Forum was organized by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the World Bank, in collaboration with other multilateral development bank (MDB) partners. It brought together approximately 450 participants, including representatives of governments, non-governmental and intergovernmental organizations, United Nations agencies, indigenous peoples and the private sector.
Climate change is considered to be one of the most serious threats to sustainable development, with adverse impacts expected on the environment, human health, food security, economic activity, natural resources and physical infrastructure. It is expected to disproportionately affect developing countries, especially the poor, thus making climate change a central consideration in poverty reduction and development efforts. Recognizing this, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change acknowledges the need to provide additional financial resources to developing countries in order to help them mitigate and manage the challenges posed by climate change. It was in this context that the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) was established.
The CIF, formally approved by the World Bank’s Board of Directors on 1 July 2008, are a collaborative effort among the MDBs and countries to bridge the financing and knowledge gap between now and a post-2012 global climate change agreement. The CIF were designed through consultations with various stakeholders and are governed by a balanced representation of donors and recipient countries, with active observers from the UN, the Global Environment Facility, civil society, indigenous peoples and the private sector.
The CIF are comprised of two Funds, each with its own specific scope, objective and governance structure: the Clean Technology Fund (CTF); and the Strategic Climate Fund (SCF). The CTF provides scaled-up financing for the demonstration, deployment and transfer of low-carbon technologies that have the potential to achieve long-term greenhouse gas emission reductions. Among other things, it funds low-carbon programs and projects that are contained in countries’ national plans and strategies. The SCF supports developing country efforts to achieve climate-resilient, low-carbon development. It operates through targeted programs with dedicated funding to pilot new approaches to climate action that have the potential to achieve scaled-up, transformational action. Each of the target programs is aimed at a specific climate change challenge or sectoral response. The three targeted programs under the SCF are: the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR), which helps countries mainstream climate resilience into development planning; the Forest Investment Program (FIP), which aims, inter alia, to support efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation by financing efforts to address the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation, and to promote sustainable forest management; and the Scaling Up Renewable Energy Program in Low Income Countries (SREP), which aims to help low income countries exploit their renewable energy potential and move towards low-carbon energy paths.
So far, donor countries have pledged US$6.5 billion to the CIF, to be disbursed as grants, highly concessional loans and/or risk mitigation instruments, and administered, through country-led programs and investments, by the AfDB, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Inter-American Development Bank, the International Finance Corporation and the World Bank. 45 developing countries including Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Cambodia and Laos are currently taking climate action with the support of the CIF.
The CIF Partnership Forum was introduced as a central element of the CIF process to help ensure effective lesson sharing and the full engagement of all stakeholders in the CIF process in an inclusive, transparent and strategic manner.
The aim of the 2011 Partnership Forum was to provide an opportunity for CIF stakeholders to: share their experiences of how the CIF are working in their countries; exchange lessons learned about what is most effective and discuss how the CIF can be expanded or improved; share on-the-ground achievements, challenges and knowledge; and help other CIF stakeholders apply lessons learned. The Forum also aimed to: raise awareness of the CIF and the country selection process; provide feedback to the CIF governing bodies; and identify opportunities for further stakeholder participation.
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