By Gerelyn Terzo, Global AgInvesting Media
The Green Climate Fund (GCF), the biggest climate investment vehicle on the planet, has greenlighted $686 million through its board of directors for climate action. The commitment, which grows to $1.5 billion with co-financing, includes investments to address deforestation for the agriculture industry in several countries, including Serbia. In total, the funds are earmarked for nearly a dozen projects across 42 countries to mitigate the equivalent of 45.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.
GCF’s mission is to support the needs of underserved countries and communities that are most at risk from the effects of climate change. One of the approved projects seeks to strengthen the resilience of Serbian forests from the effects of climate change, not least rising temperatures, heatwaves, and climatic hazards, all of which are degrading its forests, a situation exacerbated by unsustainable fuelwood extraction and outdated forest management practices.
Serbia, one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the Balkan region, lost 74,200 hectares (183,352 acres) of tree cover in the two decades leading up to 2019, erasing 2.7 percent of tree cover since 2000, owing to a perfect storm of illicit forest cutting, unchecked livestock grazing and forest fires, per Global Forest Watch. Between 2001 and 2023, close to 1 percent of tree cover lost in Serbia occurred in areas where the biggest drivers of loss led to deforestation, including within national forests.
A couple of the most recently approved projects demonstrate GCF’s influence with private sector investments. This includes a unique partnership with La Banque Agricole, representing a first-time project for a national direct access entity, for a Green Climate Finance Facility designed to support climate-smart agriculture in Senegal. An additional private sector project creates a sustainable land fund in partnership with Natixis Investment Managers affiliate Mirova through the Mirova Sustainable Land Fund 2 to address deforestation in agriculture throughout several jurisdictions, including Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Malaysia, Morocco, Peru and the Philippines.
The latest project approvals bolster the GCF’s portfolio to nearly 300 projects across total funding of $16.6 billion and $62.7 billion with co-financing across grants, loans and equity at 74 percent, 16 percent and 10 percent, respectively.
GCF Co-Chair Seyni Nafo from Mali stated, “The 11 new projects agreed at this Board will bring urgently needed climate finance to support developing countries. It is particularly gratifying to see that we are broadening our impact, by bringing first-time projects to Togo and Serbia.”
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