Loading ...« GEF Grants $4.8 Million to Help Costa Rica Upgrade Its National Parks | Home | GEF Grant to Tackle Brazil’s Barriers to Energy Efficiency »
Funding Climate Change Adaptation in Ecuador and Peru
By Keith R | June 28, 2007
Topics: Climate Change, Water Issues | No Comments »
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading...
From the Global Environment Facility (GEF):
Adapting to Climate Change: New GEF Projects Show New Ways to Beat the Heat
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council today approved a grant of $9.9 million to finance two climate adaptation projects designed to help communities in Ecuador and Peru combat problems associated with glacial retreat in the tropical Andes and improve water management in Ecuador.
“The GEF’s mandate is to help developing countries combat the adverse effects of climate change,” said Monique Barbut, GEF CEO. “These projects are focused on adaptation and geared toward empowering communities to better meet the threats posed by a changing climate.”
Project Highlights
- Glacier retreat in the Andes: the $6.9 million grant will help Ecuador and Peru cope with multifaceted threats posed by reduced glacial runoff: dwindling water availability for agriculture, potable water scarcity, reduced power generation capacity, and the need for maintaining stability of biologically-rich mountainous areas. The project will be implemented in partnership with the Communidad Andina de Naciones (CAN)
- Improving water governance in Ecuador: The combination of geography, rugged topography, and climatic perturbations will have a wide-ranging set of impacts on Ecuador’s water supply situation. The project focuses on national and local-level interventions, including implementing pilot measures in key provinces such as Los Rios, Manabi, Loja and Azuay. The aim is to help national authorities incorporate climatic risk considerations in water management and decision-making processesThe projects focus on adaptation must be seen in the light of recent research which shows that climate change will be even more pronounced in high-elevation mountain ranges. The 4th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned that carbon concentration in the atmosphere in 2005 exceeded by far the natural range during the last 650,000 years.
The threats to changes in water supply associated with glacial retreat are only receiving attention now. Lessons learned from these projects will help generate a knowledge base that policymakers can draw upon to inform the design of a new generation of adaptation projects in developing countries.
Tags: agriculture, Andean Community, Andes, Azuay, climate adaptation, Comunidad Andina, Ecuador, GEF, glacial runoff, glacier retreat, IPCC, Loja, Los Rios, Manabi, Peru, potable water, water supply
Subscribe to My Comments Feed