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Summary
From 17th to 18th March, the Adaptation
Fund Board will convene for the first time this year at its 13th meeting
in Bonn, Germany. 2011 marks the real start of the implementation phase
of concrete adaptation projects under the Adaptation Fund with all challenges
and expectations it spawns. On 16th March, the Board members will convene
in their respective committees, the Ethics and Finance (EFC) and the Project
Programme Review Committee (PPRC).
The discussion and potential approval
of a number of concrete projects will be one of the main tasks of the AFB.
Uruguay has submitted the second direct access project (after Senegal),
endorsement of the concept will be discussed. Furthermore, fully-fledged
projects from Ecuador, Eritrea, Solomon Islands and Tanzania will be considered,
all submitted through Multilateral Implementing Entities. At the last meeting
the Ecuador concept was endorsed, while the fully-fledged proposals from
the other three countries were not approved and have been submitted now
in a revised version. If all four projects would be approved, this would
amount to ca. US$ 30 million of funding decisions.
One of the main tasks of the EFC will be to progress on the overall evaluation work, on the AF level as well as on the project level. This includes the consideration of concrete guidelines for the implementing entities to follow in the evaluation. Since it is important to build in the evaluation in the project implementation as early as possible also on a conceptual basis, these are very important agenda items.
Main actions expected to be considered by the Project Programme Review Committee (PPRC) are inter alia to consider the five project proposals and to discuss further guidance on the elaboration of adaptation programmes (in contrast to projects). Of particular relevance to the public is the issue of transparency, meaning how much information will the AFB give to the public regarding concrete reasons for positive or negative project decisions. At the moment the AFB is pursuing a policy which basically keeps all information closed.
Reflecting the report of the Accreditation Panel, no further accreditation of a National Implementing Entity will happen at this meeting, leaving the number of direct access countries still at three (Senegal, Uruguay, Jamaica). A field visit undertaken by AP members to consolidate the application of one NIE did not solve all outstanding issues, so further questions remain.
The Board will start by the transition to the new chair and vice-chair and the new committee chairs. Of overall relevance is the revision of the key rules of the AF, the Operational Policies and Guidelines. Of particular interest to the public here is to strengthen the guidance by the AFB for how proponents are expected to hold and describe meaningful stakeholder consultations in the course of the project identification and implementation. So far, every country is following a different approach and the quality of many consultative processes remains questionable.
Furthermore, it is expected that
the Board will consider the introduction of impact indicators in the selection
of the projects to be approved, which is linked with the discussion on
funding priorities. The proposed indicators aim at enabling the fund to
allocate its resources as effective and equitable as possible and to integrating
wealth, health, and environmental integrity safeguards, which surely would
underscore the sustainability of the projects. Whether any decisions will
be taken on this matter remains open. 6 Briefing on the 13th meeting of
the Adaptation Fund Board This briefing paper will highlight and summarise
the key issues on the agenda of the 13th meeting of the AFB, and outline
some further actions to be taken by the Board