GCF approves $1B for climate projects, boosts PH green entrepreneurs

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) Board has approved USD 1 billion-worth of climate adaptation and mitigation projects during its 39th Board Meeting held from July 13 to 18, 2024.

Among these projects is an initiative aimed at empowering Philippine green entrepreneurs.

Representing the Philippines at the meeting, Department of Finance (DOF) Chief-of-Staff and Undersecretary Maria Luwalhati Dorotan Tiuseco, who serves as the GCF Alternate Board Member for the Asia-Pacific Group, highlighted the significance of this approval for the country’s climate resilience efforts.

The GCF, the largest global fund supporting climate change projects in developing countries, approved 17 funding proposals covering coastal resilience, sustainable agricultural systems, ecosystem restoration, and climate technologies.

Additionally, six new entities were accredited.

One key project, the Collaborative Research and Development Business (R&DB) Programme for Promoting the Innovation of Climate Technopreneurship, will benefit green entrepreneurs in the Philippines, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, and Vietnam.

The USD 221.215 million program, with USD 104.471 million funded by the GCF, aims to enhance local climate technology ecosystems.

“The REDD+ Results Based Payment would help translate existing REDD+ strategies of developing countries into a financial incentive mechanism that could support the implementation of the Philippines’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs),” Tiuseco said, supporting the mainstreaming of REDD+ results-based payments.

The GCF’s total grant to the Philippines now stands at USD 137.7 million for nine projects. The country is also implementing four readiness activities with the GCF to strengthen institutional capacities and integrate climate-resilient strategies into government projects.

The DOF’s leadership in mobilizing climate finance is further demonstrated by securing the Philippines’ hosting of the Loss and Damage Fund (LDF) Board, underscoring the country’s active role in climate finance initiatives.