09 March 2015 – Philippine Ambassador to South Korea Raul S. Hernandez called on Philippine-based organizations on March 05 to immediately apply for accreditation with a South Korea-based United Nations fund to qualify for financing from the US$10 billion resource for adaptation and mitigation projects to cope with climate change in developing countries.
Ambassador Hernandez made the appeal following a briefing made by Ms. Hela Cheikhrouhou, Executive Director of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), for Seoul-based ambassadors the previous day at the GCF main office in Songdo, Incheon.
At the luncheon briefing on March 04, Ms. Cheikhrouhou said that GCF has tallied total pledges worth US$10 billion after recent commitments were received from the governments of Peru, Colombia and Austria. The GCF is meant to support those developing countries that are most vulnerable to the devastating impact of climate change.
She also cited the importance of scaling up global climate financing by encouraging contributing countries to make more pledges and to convert into actual contributions pledges already made to enable the GCF Board to allocate resources for projects in developing countries coping with climate change.
The GCF Board will start assessing project proposals in the second half of this year. Countries will have to interact with GCF through their National Designated Authority (NDA) or focal point who will work with the Fund in identifying the strategies by which it will address climate change and provide oversight to implement the GCF’s activities in recipient countries.
Secretary Mary Ann Lucille Sering of the Climate Change Commission (CCC) is the NDA or focal point for the Philippines. The CCC is tasked with coordinating, monitoring and evaluating government programs and ensuring the mainstreaming of climate change in national, local and sectoral development plans.
Access to the GCF’s resources to undertake climate change projects and programs will be given through private and public organizations that get accreditation directly from the GCF or through UN agencies and financial institutions. They will be assessed against the Fund’s fiduciary principle and standards and environmental and social safeguards. Processing of accreditation will take three to six months, depending on the capability and preparedness of the organization. Applications are to be submitted online through www.gcfund.org/accreditation.
In underscoring the need for timely decisions against climate change, Ms. Cheikhrouhou echoed the Manila Call to Action for Climate Change made by Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III and visiting French President François Hollande in Manila last February 26 for decisive action to reduce greenhouse gases in Paris later this year.
This non-binding joint statement calls upon the international community to conclude a universal, equitable and ambitious climate deal, in line with the scientific recommendations set out by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, at a make-or-break conference in Paris in December this year to preserve our planet as a livable place for future generations.
President Hollande will host the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Paris in December 2015 with the aim of concluding an agreement that reduces greenhouse gas emissions as well as helps the poorest and most vulnerable nations mitigate or adapt to climate change.
Since its inception, the GCF has sought to make a significant contribution to global efforts to combat climate change within the framework of the UNFCCC as a mechanism to redistribute money from the developed to the developing world in order to provide support to developing countries in climate adaptation. END