Maldives elected Co-Chair of World Bank’s Strategic Climate Fund Committee

The Maldives has been elected Co-Chair of the World Bank´s Strategic Climate Fund Committee, part of the US$6.4 billion Climate Investment Fund (CIF).

CIF consists of two funds: the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) and the Strategic Climate Fund (SCF), which will channel funding through the African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Inter-American Development Bank, and the World Bank Group.

The funds are intended to help developing countries trial low-emission development projects, including clean technology, renewable energy and sustainable forest management.

The Maldives was represented at the committee meeting by the President’s Envoy for Science and Technology, Ahmed Shafeeq ‘Sappe’ Moosa.

Moosa said he encouraged the private sector in the Maldives “to take a lead in benefiting from global financing mechanism which are now increasing targeted at clean technology and renewable energy to build more climate resilient communities.”

“This is an opportunity for Maldives to learn about and benefit from the wide range of climate change finance mechanisms that are available now. It also provides an excellent platform to interact and associate with leading professionals in the area.”

The Maldives was selected together with Ethiopia, Honduras, Kenya, Mali and Nepal as a pilot country under the Scaling-up Renewable Energy Program (SREP) in July 2010, with grant financing of up to US$30 million.

“Going forward, it is my hope that further funding can be channelled to the Maldives through the CIF program,” Moosa said.

Donors to CIF include the United States ($2 billion), United Kingdom ($1.212 billion), Japan ($1.190 billion), Germany ($741 million), France ($274 million), Norway ($177 million), Australia ($137 million), and Spain (US$108 million).

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