World Bank agrees $8 million aid to India for climate change mitigation

NEW DELHI: India on Friday signed an agreement with World Bank for an assistance of $8 million to take up various adaptation measures in rural areas to deal with the threat of climate change.

The money will be used to implement special projects to improve adaptive capacity of the rural poor, engaged in farm-based livelihoods, to climate change in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.

The assistance fund, under Sustainable Livelihoods and Adaptation to Climate Change (SLACC), will be for projects that will help community institutions of the rural poor, particularly women farmers, to foster improved resilience in the production system in collaboration with government programs such as MGNREGS.

The National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) is the implementing agency of these projects. This fund is in addition to what the government had set up last year as `National Adaptation Fund' and set aside Rs 100 crore for taking up adagriculture adaptation measures.

The environment ministry has, meanwhile, initiated the process to select agencies for implementing climate change mitigation and adaptation projects using the Green Climate Fund (GCF) -a global fund meant to assist developing countries in promoting low-emission and climate-resilient development.

Rich countries are supposed to contribute to the GCF that has a little over $10 billion. The fund targets to be $100 billion by 2020. Developing countries are supposed to identify projects that can be implemented using the fund, set up under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2010.

The environment ministry, which had sought applications from eligible institutions for selection as National Implementing Entity (NIE) for the fund, received many requests till Thursday , the last day of sending applications. Once India identifies its NIE, it will be accredited by the GCF Board. India is one of the 24 GCF Board members.