Climate Change

GEF projects on climate change help developing countries and economies to contribute to the overall objective of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Climate change could have devastating effects on the well-being of people already living on the edge of poverty – with limited financial and technical capacity, yet dependent on climate-sensitive sectors for their life and livelihoods, communities must rely on their own ability to adapt and survive in constantly changing conditions.

The climate change focal area aims at reducing or avoiding greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at the community level. SGP climate change mitigation efforts are focused on implementing low-GHG technologies and low-carbon transport initiatives.

Support for low-carbon energy technologies ensures that communities have access to renewable energy, while improving energy efficiency, to meet the lighting, heating and cooking needs of poor households; local public facilities, such as rural schools and health centres; and community-based micro-enterprises. These technologies include micro-hydro, wind, solar and biomass. Efforts to support low-carbon transportation are focused on providing a sustainable alternative particularly in remote areas, where goods, and people, must be transported to and from markets over long distances.