On October 20, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed a funding agreement with Green Climate Fund (GCF)* for the “Climate Resilient and Secure Islands Project” in the Maldives. The signing took place online on the occasion of the 34th GCF Executive Board Meeting between JICA Director Takumi Ueshima and GCF Executive Director Yannick Glemarek.
This project aims to improve the resilience and safety of the Maldives against climate change by establishing a system to promote coastal protection and conservation measures that take into account the effects of climate change, thereby contributing to Goal 11 (Creating Livable Cities) and Goal 13 (Taking Specific Action on Climate Change) of the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). The project will contribute to Goal 11 (Create cities that are livable) and Goal 13 (Take concrete measures to combat climate change) of the SDGs. This is the second project to be funded by JICA through the GCF, following the “Community-driven Landscape Management Project for Reducing Deforestation and Strengthening Local Resilience against Climate Change in Priority Watersheds” in Timor-Leste, for which a funding agreement was signed in May this year.
At the signing ceremony, Executive Director Grémarec expressed his hope that this initiative will be a major step forward in addressing the climate crisis and an important milestone in overcoming the critical situation, as the project is named. He also commended the project’s efforts to address coastal conservation and beach nourishment through an appropriate combination of soft and hard aspects.
Director Ueshima then stated that JICA intends to work with the GCF to address climate change in developing countries, that JICA’s assistance to the Maldives has been addressing vulnerability to weather disasters and climate change, including reconstruction assistance for the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and that this project will work to develop and implement strategic plans for climate change adaptation and coastal This project will work on the development and implementation of a strategic plan for climate change-adaptive coastal protection measures.
At the end of the meeting, Mr. Grémarec proposed that the GCF Board of Directors, following the Japanese custom, perform the “Ipponjime” ceremony to pray for the success of this project.
At COP27 (27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) to be held in November this year, JICA plans to present its initiatives, including co-benefit-oriented climate change countermeasures projects that promote the resolution of development issues while implementing climate change mitigation and adaptation measures. JICA will continue to make further efforts to promote climate change countermeasures in cooperation with partners in Japan and abroad.
（The Green Climate Fund (GCF), established in 2010, is the operating entity of the financial mechanism of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which supports developing countries in reducing greenhouse gas emissions (mitigation measures) and addressing the effects of climate change (adaptation measures).
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