IDB helps Latin America, Caribbean access over US$200M in climate financing

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has assisted Mexico, Honduras, Jamaica and Bolivia in accessing a combined total of more than US$200 million from the Climate Investment Fund (CIF) in meetings last week.

Multi-disciplinary teams of specialists from the IDB supported the countries in preparing national climate change investment plans to allocate resources to contribute to their efforts towards climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Mexico’s investment plan under the Forest Investment Programme (FIP) was endorsed by the CIF on Monday, October 31. As part of the CIF, the FIP is allocating US$60 million in concessional financing and grants to Mexico in order to help reduce deforestation while creating more inclusive opportunities for communities.

The investment plan aims to bring forest and non-forest areas under sustainable management. It will work to increase institutional and local capacity and investment to address the direct and underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation in Early Action REDD+ areas located in the states of Campeche, Chiapas, Jalisco, Mexico, Michoacán, Oaxaca, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan. The IDB will channel US$18 million in FIP resources, which will support the creation of a dedicated financing line for low-carbon strategies in forest management and provide assistance and capacity building for communities in order to access finance.

The investment plan of Honduras under the programme on Scaling up Renewable Energy for Low-Income Countries (SREP) was endorsed by the SREP sub-committee of the CIF on November 1, 2011. A mix of concessional loans and grants, totalling US$30 million, will be used to strengthen the renewable energy policy and regulatory framework in the country, as well as develop renewable energy grid connected and rural energy projects.

During the Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience (PPCR) trust fund committee meeting of the CIF on November 2, 2011, the PPCR sub-committee endorsed the Strategic Programme for Climate Resilience (SPCR) for Jamaica.

The Jamaican SPCR, which is led by the IDB, outlines a strategic investment programme in the amount of US$25 million, to fund the implementation of three investment projects that will help mainstream climate change into the country’s development path as well as to improve its capacity to adapt to the impacts of climate change.