UNDP & AIM Partners Announces $2.2 Million in Climate Action Grants for Innovators

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and AIM partners have announced $2.2 million in climate action grants for 22 local innovators from 19 countries, including India. The first round of funding from the Adaptation Fund Climate Innovation Accelerator (AFCIA) window will improve local climate action and accelerate the achievement of the Paris Agreement and SDG targets.

The initiative empowers local actors and contributes to the principles for locally-led adaptation action that have been endorsed by UNDP and partners worldwide.

The new funding proposals, announced on Monday, will benefit from the Adaptation Innovation Marketplace's technical support and know-how.

AIM, which will be launched at the Climate Adaptation Summit in January 2021 by UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner, is a strategic platform that promotes scaled-up adaptation at the local level, with a focus on civil society, and non-governmental organizations, and women and youth innovators.

To facilitate local access to climate change finance, the marketplace crowdsources resources, know-how, and support.

The Adaptation Fund Climate Innovation Accelerator receives technical assistance from the AIM partners, which include the International Centre for Climate Change and Development, the Least Developed Countries Universities Consortium on Climate Change, the Global Resilience Partnership, the Climate-Knowledge Innovation Community, and the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF).

In 2022, AIM partners will work even harder to share knowledge and coordinate South-South cooperation for the 22 local partners who received grants in the first round of AFCIA grant-giving.

The winning proposals ranged from advanced aquaculture in India and increased production of climate-resilient acai berries in Brazil to the reintroduction of ancient climate-resilient construction techniques in the Sahel and the creation of "blue jobs" in Micronesia.

Grants were distributed to 19 countries, including seven from Africa, 11 from Asia, and four from Latin America and the Caribbean. Ten of the 22 participants were from LDCs or small island developing states.

The grants were designed to support resilient agriculture, technology, community-based adaptation, ecosystem-based payments and services, and entrepreneurship. The second call for proposals will be issued in June 2022.

"These grants enable us to rethink how we support climate-resilient development by supporting locally-driven climate innovations. This entails embracing The United Nations' New Way of Working and Grand Bargain agreements, breaking down silos, collaborating across society, adhering to the localization agenda, and scaling up locally-led adaptation and accelerating climate resilience of vulnerable communities," Srilata Kammila, UNDP's Head of Climate Change Adaptation, stated as much.

The funds will be distributed through the Adaptation Fund Climate Innovation Accelerator, a multi-partner programme that will be launched in November 2020 with a $10 million grant from the Adaptation Fund.

The programme assists local entrepreneurs in developing countries in developing viable business models that attract commercial financing for their innovative resilience-building solutions.

The most recent IPCC report emphasizes the importance of social justice and diverse forms of knowledge, such as indigenous and local knowledge, in climate adaptation processes.

According to the report, despite progress in adaptation efforts across all sectors and regions, human-caused climate change has resulted in widespread losses and damages to nature and people, with the most vulnerable people and systems bearing a disproportionate share of the burden. Africa, and particularly small islands, face relatively severe challenges across all dimensions of vulnerability assessed in the report.