The Special Climate Change Fund, one of the world’s first multilateral climate adaptation finance instruments, was created at the 2001 Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to help vulnerable nations in addressing these negative impacts of climate change.
The SCCF is managed by the GEF and operates in parallel with the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF). Both funds have a mandate to serve the Paris Agreement.
The GEF’s climate change adaptation strategy for the 2022-2026 period focuses SCCF support in the following two priority areas:
Supporting the adaptation needs of Small Island Developing States (SIDS)
The Small Island Developing States of the Caribbean, African and Indian Ocean, and the Pacific, are among the world’s most vulnerable countries, due to a range of climatic and non-climatic factors. Salt water intrusion is severely impacting availability of drinking water as well as agricultural productivity on many islands. Sea level rise will worsen this situation, especially on low-lying islands, and, together with increased heavy rainfall, worsen damage from tropical storms to coastal infrastructure, settlements, and coastal ecosystems. Compounding these impacts, solutions are often difficult owing to SIDS’ geographic isolation and limited land area. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sixth Assessment Report refers to a range of projected adverse climate change impacts for SIDS, which will translate into direct adverse impacts on human security, health, infrastructure, ecosystems, agriculture and food, and the economy and livelihoods.
Some areas where the SCCF could offer adaptation support to SIDS include: storm and flood early warning systems; improved regional forecasts; nature-based solutions such as mangroves and other protective measures; enhanced resilience of roads, public infrastructure, and freshwater sources; climate-resilient aquaculture, fisheries, and diversified incomes; systemic resilience interventions in the food, urban and tourism space; climate resilient health (vector- and water-borne disease); and measures to build resilience, reduce fragility, and diversify the local economy, reducing dependence on imports; as well as mainstream climate resilience in policies and development planning; and build domestic capacity for adaptation.
Strengthening technology transfer, innovation, and private sector engagement
The SCCF facilitates the creation of strong, climate-resilient economies and communities by helping countries address a range of barriers, including:
- Limited access to climate-resilient technologies and infrastructure
- Limited institutional capacity to foresee and manage climate risks
- Low engagement by the private sector, including small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurs, for developing and providing adaptation solutions
- Lack of access to finance from public sources and to markets for adaptation solutions.
Recent initiatives backed by the SCCF show these obstacles are far from insurmountable. Small farmers provided with equitable and localized lending can afford to invest in climate adaptation technologies. Incubators and targeted funds can attract private sector involvement in climate adaptation innovation. And cutting-edge tools such as artificial intelligence and drones can improve climate risk data, which can enable adaptation and resilience in a range of areas, including disaster risk mitigation, municipal budget planning, and the design of commercial lending products.
