‘Red tape’ locking small island states out of billions in climate funds

Commonwealth initiative aims to enable countries such as Vanuatu and Fiji to access $100bn pledged in Paris climate talks

Many small developing countries are so administratively stretched that they cannot fill in all the complex forms needed to access climate money to help them to reduce emissions and adapt to increasing global temperatures, rising sea levels and extreme weather.

Although billions of dollars of climate money is theoretically available, in practice red tape and paperwork makes it is extremely hard and slow to get hold of, says the Commonwealth Secretariat, the central institution of the 53 Commonwealth countries, who are among the hardest hit by climate change.

“We have many climate adaptation projects identified, to move villages and other settlements, but they depend on getting climate money. We know what we need to do, but to do it we need to understand the process,” he said.

Rich countries together pledged to mobilise $100bn (£77bn) a year by 2020 in last year’s Paris climate talks. But, according to new analysis by the Commonwealth Secretariat, since 2009 only $726m has been received by the smallest 31 small Commonwealth states, including Dominica, Guyana, Namibia, Nauru, Solomon Islands, St Kitts and Nevis, Tonga and Vanuatu.

Low institutional capacity, convoluted forms, and a complex and slow approval process all but denies small countries, says the secretariat, which is to pay for experts to work with small Commonwealth countries to help them access money.

The secretariat will on Wednesday launch in Mauritius a central “hub” offering small Commonwealth countries advice and technical assistance. In addition, advisers will work in ministries to help them identify and apply for money.

“Donors are at last creating climate funds, but too often they are tied up in red tape and [are] tremendously complicated to access, especially for small countries with limited capacity. The money isn’t getting to those who need it nearly fast enough. This Commonwealth initiative will make the difference in unlocking much needed capital for adaption and mitigation,” said the Commonwealth secretary general, Patricia Scotland.

“There are a lot of finance mechanisms which have sprouted up over the years but the issue is accessibility, particularly for small countries like ours with small administrations,” said Makurita Baaro, Kiribati’s ambassador to the UN.

“In a lot of cases, whether the submission is for a $100m project or a $20,000 project, the paperwork is still the same, and that needs to change. It doesn’t make sense at all.

“Multilateral funds for climate change mitigation or adaption measures can be costly and cumbersome to access, meaning many small islands states are put off by the enormity of the task.”

Money is theoretically available from the Green Climate Fund, the Adaptation Fund and climate investment funds, as well as private sector finance.

The Green climate fund (GCF), which is based in South Korea and will become the world’s main channel for climate finance, has been pledged about $10bn so far by rich countries, but has only approved investments of about $424m in 17 projects (pdf) since November 2015.

It has an “aspirational goal” to commit $2.5bn this year, which many observers say it is unlikely to meet.

The first countries expected to receive assistance from the hub are: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Guyana, Jamaica, Mauritius, Namibia, Nauru, Solomon Islands, St Kitts and Nevis, Tonga and Vanuatu.

–
Note: This article is re-posted and was first published by The Guardian last 20 September 2016. Featured image by Rachel Skeates/AFP/Getty.