Private Donations to Adaptation Fund Now Possible Through UN Foundation Partnership
(Doha, Qatar, November 30, 2012) _ The Adaptation Fund and the United Nations Foundation have established a partnership that will for the first time allow the AF to accept donations from the private sector and individuals. The announcement was made during the Adaptation Fund side event (“Adaptation Fund at a Critical Juncture: Achievements and Challenges with Dwindling Resources”) on November 30, 2012, at the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change negotiations (COP 18) in Doha, Qatar.
“The agreement with the UN Foundation opens up new possibilities for the Fund and enhances its ability to function as an innovative source of climate finance,” said Adaptation Fund Board Chair Luis Santos. “We look forward to garnering even more support for adaptation through this mutually beneficial partnership.”
Traditionally, the Adaptation Fund has been financed through sales of the Clean Development Mechanism carbon credits, known as certified emissions reductions (CERs), and through donations from governments, but has had no mechanism for accepting donations from the public at large or the private sector. The downward trend in the prices of CERs, which are the Fund’s primary funding source, has severely limited the ability of the Fund to continue its work and led the Adaptation Fund Board to set a fundraising target of US$100 million with the goal of raising the money by the end of 2013. The Board has bolstered that initiative by enabling the involvement of anyone who would like to donate, from schoolchildren to private corporations.
Since it began operating in 2010, the Adaptation Fund has committed $165 million to projects and programs in 25 developing countries and is facing ever-greater demand as drought, flooding, sea-level rise and other climate disasters intensify. The Fund currently has $120 million available for additional projects and programs.
“Concerning climate: no one can do everything – but everyone can do something,” said Timothy E. Wirth, President of the United Nations Foundation. “The United Nations Foundation is proud to help the UN’s Adaptation Fund, and we hope that everyone–large government to small donor–will help by contributing to this fund, designed to help the poorest countries and communities adapt to the emerging crescendo of climate change.”
Donations can be made by clicking on the bright blue “Donate” button on the Adaptation Fund website, www.adaptation-fund.org, then clicking on the red button on the UN Foundation page. A fundraising brochure with more information will be available on the website or can be requested in electronic form by e-mailing secretariat@adaptation-fund.org.
The Adaptation Fund was established under the Kyoto Protocol of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and gets the main part of its funding from a two percent share of proceeds of all Certified Emission Reductions issued under the Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism projects. The Fund is designed to finance concrete climate change adaptation projects and programs based on the needs, views and priorities of developing countries. The Global Environment Facility provides secretariat services to the Adaptation Fund and the World Bank serves as its trustee, both on an interim basis.
Media contact: Marcia Levaggi, Manager, Adaptation Fund Board secretariat
mlevaggi@adaptation-fund.org