Developing bankable transboundary climate change adaptation projects
3 July 2017
From 21-23 June in Dakar, Senegal, more than 30 people participated in the training 'How to prepare bankable projects for financing climate change adaptation in transboundary basins'. It was organised by the African Water Facility (AWF/AfDB), the European Investment Bank (EIB), AfriAlliance partner International Network of Basin Organizations (INBO), the 1992°UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Helsinki Water Convention), the World Bank, the Netherlands and Switzerland in the framework of the activities of the Global Network of Basins Working on Climate Change created by INBO and UNECE in 2013.
The participants included representatives of bilateral and multilateral donors (World Bank, African Development Bank, European Investment Bank, French Development Agency, European Water Facility) as well as of Transboundary Basin Organizations (TBOs) from Africa as well as from Europe and Asia. The participants were introduced to donors’ procedures and project cycles and trained on how to develop project proposals, including identifying the impacts of climate change, the vulnerabilities and the needs for adaptation, fitting the project proposal within the policy context and priorities for climate change adaptation. The participants were also trained to make the distinction between adaptation and resilience, as well as between adaptation and development projects. Representatives of TBOs were advised to involve Ministries of Finance of targeted countries and to include actions in their project proposals that deliver positive results for both mitigation and adaptation, as such “cobenefits” are highly valued by donors.
INBO presented the Incubation Platform of the Global Alliances for Water and Climate (GAWCIP) and how it helps bridge the existing gap between donors (looking for quality adaptation projects in vain) and project holders (ignoring how to access climate funds and comply with procedural requirements). GAWCIP provides technical assistance to project holders, to help them build their proposals and reach access to funding. The training made clear that there is a strong demand for GAWCIP services.
The workshop was highly interactive, with case studies (Lake Victoria, Niger, OSS accreditation to the Adaptation Fund, etc.) and practical exercises.
Background
Basin organisations and national authorities need to move toward implementing concrete measures contained in adaptation strategies, such as flood protection infrastructure, storage reservoirs, green infrastructure and soft measures. Numerous funding mechanisms are available from climate funds, multilateral development banks and development cooperation partners. However, basin organisations and national authorities often lack the capacity, knowledge and resources to prepare bankable project proposals for transboundary cooperation on climate change adaptation.
AfriAlliance
As representatives of the AfriAlliance project, INBO and ANBO promoted the Africa-EU Innovation Alliance for Water and Climate as an initiative boosting research and innovative actions for the preparedness of Africa to climate change.