MANILA, PHILIPPINES - One of
the first international meetings to focus on climate finance since
the Copenhagen summit last December ended today with plans in place
to mobilize some US$40 billion for country-led low carbon
growth.

The week-long meetings of the Climate Investment Funds (CIF),
held at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) headquarters, also made
progress on support for developing country action on forests,
renewable energies and building climate-resilient
development.



The CIF Clean Technology Fund (CTF) endorsed investment plans for
Colombia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. There are now 13 plans
in place around the world (see below) and some US$4.3 billion of
CTF co-financing allocated to projects ranging from solar power
development to the greening of public transport systems. It is
estimated that an additional US$36 billion will be leveraged in the
coming years from other sources, including the private sector,
bringing the total to be mobilized to US$40 billion.

ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda announced Thursday that the CIF
has allocated more than a billion dollars for the Asia and Pacific
region since their inception one year ago. “We are encouraged that
our developing member countries are taking a strong lead in turning
their economies onto low-carbon, climate resilient pathways and are
engaging the Climate Investment Funds to act more quickly and more
ambitiously in response to the global climate challenge,” Mr.
Kuroda said.

In addition to the CTF, government representatives on the CIF’s
Strategic Climate Fund (SCF) committees approved grants for Zambia
and Nepal to better respond to the challenge of adaptation, and
selected the first pilot countries under the Forest Investment
Program (FIP): Burkina Faso, Ghana, Indonesia, Lao PDR and
Peru.

“We still have a lot to do, but the Climate
Investment Funds are moving into high gear,” World Bank Vice
President for Sustainable Development Katherine Sierra

The FIP, designed to provide investments that help countries
better manage their forests, also approved a consultation process
for designing a special grant mechanism for indigenous

peoples and local communities. World Bank Vice President for
Sustainable Development Katherine Sierra said that the CIF was
moving from a planning, programming phase to one of
implementation.

“We still have a lot to do, but the Climate Investment Funds are
moving into high gear,” Ms. Sierra said. “The ultimate solution for
climate finance will be under the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change, but the CIF can provide important
lessons in terms of governance, leveraging and scalability. As
climate change threatens to push back hard won development gains it
is critical that we start showing what can be done, to demonstrate
the art of the possible.”

For more information please visit: href=”http://www.climateinvestmentfunds.org/”
target=”_blank”>http://www.climateinvestmentfunds.org