UNEP helps countries all over the world to access finance for adaptation. In 2020, the total value of the adaptation project portfolio managed by the Climate Change Adaptation Unit rose to $340 million, which includes around $300 million in vertical funds and $40 million in bilateral funds.
In 2021, UNEP and IUCN launched the brand-new Global Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) Fund, which aims to provide targeted and rapid support mechanisms through seed capital for innovative approaches to EbA. In addition, UNEP & CTCN are working together to administrate $5million through a small grants programme known as the Adaptation Fund Climate Innovation Accelerator (AFCIA).
UNEP also supports governments to access adaptation finance through projects in 'climate readiness', which is defined as the capacities of countries to plan for, access, deliver, and report on climate finance.
Tanzania: 'Seawater is coming into our farms and killing the plants’
UNEP has been helping the government of Tanzania with a major mangrove planting project on the eastern coast. Seawater was creeping into people’s farms, killing the crops and damaging people’s health.
With UNEP’s help, the villagers fought back by forming an organization to reforest 250 hectares of mangroves. Seawater intrusion soon ended, and families could grow vegetables again. In a win-win strategy, the forests in turn provided breeding grounds for fish and crustaceans, regenerating the local economy.
