Green Climate Fund Backs Resilience Project Conceived with DAI Support

April 02, 2021

A project designed with DAI’s assistance to mitigate the impact of climate change in four vulnerable Indian Ocean countries has won the support of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the largest global fund dedicated to addressing climate change.

On March 19, the GCF Board approved US$71 million to finance the five-year project—Building Regional Resilience through Strengthened Meteorological, Hydrological, and Climate Services in the Indian Ocean Commission Member Countries. Implemented by the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC), it will support Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, and Seychelles to better manage the risks and impacts of climate-induced disasters.

These countries are particularly exposed to the adverse effects of climate change, such as rising sea levels, increased sea surface and air temperatures, and changing rainfall patterns. They also suffer from tropical and non-tropical cyclones; from 1950 to 2020, extreme storms affected 62 percent of the population of the four countries, causing significant loss of life and damage estimated at $3.2 billion.

DAI designed interventions to help mitigate climate change in four Indian Ocean countries, including Mauritius.

One of the weak links in the region is the ability of local governments to forecast, detect, and monitor hazards, and to generate and disseminate actionable early warnings that allow decision makers and communities to prepare for and adapt to climate change.

DAI has helped address this gap by designing project interventions that modernize national hydrological and meteorological services in cost-effective and locally appropriate ways, as well as encouraging the uptake of improved climate products and services. These services include multi-hazard, impact-based forecasting and early warning systems for use by stakeholders—such as disaster risk management authorities—and by end-users, including local communities.

“We are delighted that the project has been approved,” said Donald Lunan, DAI’s Global Climate Director. “Climate change is a concern for us all, but for these particularly vulnerable countries, the impact is already devastating. Improved early warning systems—which are accurate, localised, and timely—will not only ensure the countries and communities are better prepared to cope with disasters as they arise, but will also help save lives and increase the resilience of communities.”

The design process involved in-country consultations with climate-focused government agencies, policy experts, and affected communities. DAI then helped develop a feasibility assessment, economic and financial analysis, a gender assessment and action plan, an environmental and social management framework, and the final project proposal. DAI also provided support to the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) team to address the GCF evaluation panel queries in preparation for the project’s Board review. DAI’s technical expertise was commissioned through the AFD Adapt’action Facility.

The project will be entirely grant funded through a $52 million grant from the GCF, with co-financing from AFD, the European Union, and the four island states. The lead implementing agency will be the Indian Ocean Commission, with support from national agencies in the target countries. The project complies with the Global Alliance for Hydromet endorsed by the GCF at the 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP25), and aims to be one of the pioneer projects implemented under this new initiative.

For more information, please visit the Green Climate Fund project page.