That sinking feeling: Poor nations struggle with UN climate fund

The Philippines has sought financing for seven projects from a UN environmental fund to tackle the catastrophic impact of climate change. Yet only one has secured backing since 2016, and it’s not because the $17.3 billion fund lacks cash.

Bureaucracy and a blizzard of information requests have stalled applications to the UN Green Climate Fund (GCF) over projects to cope with climate change in a country that faces typhoons, droughts and rising sea levels, said Mark Joven, undersecretary at the Philippines finance department.

It can take as many as four years for projects to get going - too long for urgent needs, such as flood defences. “By then the city applying for a flood facility would already have sunk under the flood it wanted to solve,” Joven said.

GCF, created to help developing nations cut carbon emissions and adapt to a warmer world, said it had helped the Philippines build know-how but its work faced challenges over permits and Manila’s moves to change which entity dealt with the fund.

Yet the Philippines is not alone in raising complaints. Government and development officials from seven countries told Reuters their GCF applications faced bottlenecks, with several asking not to be named to avoid harming relations with the fund.

Meanwhile, efforts to adjust GCF policies to ease access to funding have been hindered by wrangling on the board between rich and poor nations over how it should approach climate finance, a board member and a German climate finance official said.

“We allowed it to become too political,” said board member Victor Vinas, saying national rivalries on the board unrelated to climate politics also sometimes hindered these efforts.

A GCF spokesperson did not comment on board issues or complaints over bureaucracy but said the fund was accelerating its work. Helping developing nations secure funds to cope with climate change is a central issue at the UN COP26 conference in Glasgow this month, but funds offered so far have not come near the $1.3 trillion some developing states say they need each year by 2030.

The GCF, the largest intergovernmental fund to address climate change, is part of that financing infrastructure. Governments have pledged $17.3 billion to the fund since its launch in 2014, of which the fund has received $11.5 billion.