Affordable Green Solutions for Vulnerable Population: Microfinance and Ecosystem-based Adaptation present at COP20
According to UNEP, private sectors have venture into schemes that can ameliorate climate change in Casimiro.
Active private sector participation in adaptation to climate change of the most vulnerable populations is constantly increasing. This is the case of Casimiro, a farmer and entrepreneur from Santander, Colombia, who received a credit of 2,000 US dollars to install a drip irrigation system. The credit was delivered by a partner institution of the Microfinance for Ecosystem-based Adaptation (MEbA) project, which is implemented in Colombia and Peru by UNEP and Frankfurt School with funds from the German government.
The drip irrigation system makes efficient use of water resources and adds to a series of other measures that Casimiro applies in his farm, such as organic fertilizer production and use, crop diversification and terracing. These are ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) measures promoted by the MEbA project, aimed at increasing resilience of small farmers through better use and management of ecosystems and their services. There are five microfinance institutions (MFIs) associated to the project: BancamÃa, Contactar and Crezcamos in Colombia, and Fondesurco and Solidaridad in Peru.
On 10 December, to make their commitment more tangible to climate policy stakeholders and to portray the existing potential of this type of public-private partnership, partner MFIs of the MEbA project made public their challenge to allocate, in the next five years, approximately 20 million US dollars to ecosystem-based adaptation, as well as to deliver 24,000 credits and to train 14,000 clients. This also implies that within the same period there will be approximately 14,000 hectares managed under EbA criteria and 600 MFI employees will be trained.
Casimiro’s story could be replicated in many places in Peru and Colombia, as well as in most countries in the region. Inclusion of these alternative financing sources in countries’ pathway towards adaptation depends on oriented public policies. Plans, strategies, regulations and programmes are some of the instruments that governments may use to promote increased private sector participation as well as the implementation of sustainable and cost-effective adaptation options. The roles played by different stakeholders – e.g. Government, private sector, civil society and academia – are key to define the rules of these partnerships. To address these issues and explore the different alternatives available to governments, private sector and donors, on 12 December the MEbA project will also host the event Inclusion of alternative sources for adaptation in policies aimed at vulnerable populations.
No comments:
Post a Comment