Developing countries to benefit from new UN website on climate change funding | WPN World People News

30 November 2010 – With developing countries slated to require as much as $100 billion a year for adaptation to climate change and $175 million for mitigation by 2030, the United Nations today launched a website to help them make sense of the multiple funds available to finance their needs.

The Climate Finance Options (CFO) web platform, envisioned as the go-to site for information on climate finance, will help them identify critical sources of funding to combat climate change.

“Developing countries need access to information on potential sources of finance, inspiring best practice examples, research results and tools for better investment decision making,” World Bank Environment Department Director Warren Evans said at the launch at the UN Climate Conference in Cancun, Mexico. “The Climate Finance Options Platform provides a window to such information.”

The World Bank Group and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) jointly developed the web-based knowledge platform in close cooperation with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat.

“For climate assistance to be most effective, it is critical for countries to access, sequence, and effectively integrate climate finance sources at the national level,” UNDP Environment and Energy Group Director Veerle Vandeweerd said.

“UNDP is therefore pleased to be working in partnership to provide the CFO platform and assist countries to navigate the complex sources of finance through a one-stop shop.”

The CFO analyzes the types of funds available, how much is available for what, the criteria for accessing them, and how they are administered. It also provides examples of successful cases in which different funds were blended to get maximum impact and will lead to greater efficiency in climate finance transactions, faster deployment of mitigation and adaptation projects, and better coordination between the UN system, development banks and the private sector.

Source: UN News