A new initiative to help small island nations and developing states access billions of dollars in global funding to address climate change was launched Tuesday. The Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub is hosted by the government of Mauritius and “will place national climate finance advisers for one to two years at a time in recipient countries, who will help host ministries to identify and apply for funding streams,” according to a press release from the Commonwealth, a voluntary association of 53 nations. These advisers will help the nations gain access to the Green Climate Fund, Adaptation Fund, Climate Investment Funds, and private sector financing.
According to the release, despite international commitments by developed nations to provide $100 billion a year for green financing in developing nations by 2020, “only $726 million of available climate finance has to-date been received by the 31 small states of the Commonwealth – countries with populations of under two million who are among the most threatened by climate change.”
