Green Climate Fund offers Vietnam 30.2 million USD to deal with climate change

At the signing ceremony (Photo: nongnghiep.vn)

Hanoi - The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has provided 30.2 million USD as non-refundable assistance to Vietnam to help the country deal with climate change impacts.

The sum will be allocated to a project “Strengthening the resilience of smallholder agriculture to climate change-induced water insecurity in the Central Highlands and south-central coast regions of Vietnam” (SACCR).

A document to this effect was signed by representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Hanoi on May 28.

The project is expected to benefit local resident in five provinces, namely Khanh Hoa, Binh Thuan, Ninh Thuan, Dak Nong and Dak Lak.

It aims to empower vulnerable farming households, especially women and people from ethnic minority groups in the Central Highlands and south central regions in managing climate-related risks to agricultural production by ensuring the availability of water resources, climate change resilient activities and access to agricultural climate information, credit and market.

According to Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Hoang Hiep, this is the largest non-refundable aid that the Ministry has received from international organisations in recent years.

The project will help strengthen connection of irrigation systems, improve the management capacity, and effectively use climate change adaptation systems, especially in the South Central and Central Highlands regions.

UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam Caitlin Wiesen said the project will support small farmers, especially women and ethnic people vulnerable to climate change to adapt quickly to natural disasters.

They will benefit through smart irrigation systems and livelihood options, she said, adding that they will be also provided with knowledge of climate risks and opportunities to access to efficient agricultural cultivation techniques, as well as information on market.

The project is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2016.

The Green Climate Fund was established by 194 countries party to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2010. It is designed as an operating entity of the Convention’s financial mechanism and is headquartered in the Republic of Korea. It is governed by a 24 Board member Board, representing countries, and receives guidance from the Conference of the Parties to the Convention (COP).

Created by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Fund aims to support a paradigm shift in the global response to climate change. It allocates its resources to low-emission and climate-resilient projects and programmes in developing countries.