St.
George’s, November 1, 2011 - Environment Minister, the Hon. Joseph
Gilbert, on Monday October 31, signed a five (5) million Euro "concept
agreement'' for projects in climate change with German Government
representative, Michael Scholze.
Mr. Scholze, who is leading a visiting
mission to Grenada, signed the agreement on behalf of the German Federal
Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.
One of the main objectives of the new
programme will be to deliver funds to local communities in Grenada to help them
combat and adapt to the adverse effects of climate change, such as droughts and
sea level rise.
The concept agreement is titled “Programme
of Integrated Adaptation Strategies in Grenada.”
Mr.
Scholze and his appraisal mission team, comprising representatives from the
German Development Agency known as GIZ, the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) and Climate Analytics, spent over a week in Grenada to jointly
develop, with their Grenadian partners, an overall concept for the project. The
exercise included a national stakeholders' consultation process.
The programme concept will be used by GIZ
and UNDP as the basis for the preparation of their project offer that will be
presented for consideration and approval to the German Federal Ministry for the
Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.
Four proposed components for the programme
– including the setting up of a Community Climate Change Adaptation Fund – were
developed to utilize the 5 million Euros – EC$19 million – promised by Germany.
Component
1: Strategic national approach to integrating
and mainstreaming climate
resilience across sectors.
Component
2: Climate resilient integrated Water
and Coastal Resource Management.
Component
3: Implementing pilot adaptation and climate
resilience activities on the ground supporting communities to improve
livelihoods and combat the effects of droughts, extreme floods and sea level
rise.
Component
4: Knowledge management and
establishment of capacity to access climate
Finance.
The project will support an integrated
approach to water and coastal resource management, mainstreaming climate change
considerations into the water and coastal resource sector.
Included in the overall objectives of the
programme are fostering inter-sectoral coordination and collaboration, and
implementing concrete on-the-ground measures for climate change risk management
in highly vulnerable communities.
Apart from a national consultation held on
October 27 to develop the general concept of the project, the visitors’
itinerary included a field trip throughout the island and interviews with
various government officials and technical partners. Several sites affected and
vulnerable to future climate change were visited.
SOURCE: Kareen Morain, Ministry of Environment, Foreign Trade and Export Development
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