UK (Commonwealth Union)_ The Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub (CCFAH) has unveiled plans to expand its network of experts available to member countries, with the addition of thematic advisers focusing on gender and health-related climate finance. These advisers will be stationed in Mauritius, where the Hub is headquartered, supplementing the existing 29 national and regional advisers spread across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and the Indo-Pacific regions since the Hub’s operational inception in 2016.
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The CCFAH initiative aims to support small and vulnerable countries in accessing climate finance by offering technical assistance in project development, facilitating policies, and building capacity to address climate change. Using the initial seed funding of $7.8 million, the Hub has already disbursed approximately $322 million for 78 projects in 19 countries, assisting 123 capacity-building initiatives, including the training of 2,644 government officials. The Hub strategically deploys Commonwealth national and regional climate finance advisers within government departments and regional institutions. Their role encompasses supporting climate finance grant applications, capacity building, policy support, and knowledge generation and sharing, fostering cross-Commonwealth cooperation.
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Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland, speaking after a meeting of program staff and CCFAH advisers at COP28, the UN climate summit in Dubai, highlighted the significance of integrating gender and health aspects into climate finance. She emphasized the interconnectedness of climate change, social inequalities, and the higher vulnerability of women to climate impacts. The enhanced capacity of the CCFAH, combined with gender and health finance advisers, is expected to improve countries’ access to targeted funding.
The Secretary-General stated, “The gender and health aspects of climate change have been largely sidelined until now, yet they are inextricably linked, directly and indirectly. We know that climate change exacerbates existing social inequalities and that women often face a higher health vulnerability to the impacts of climate change”. She added, “By boosting the capacity of the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub and integrating health and gender finance advisers, our countries will be better able to access targeted funding.”
Dr. Oduetse Koboto, Adviser and Manager of the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub, highlighted the significant contribution of thematic climate finance experts, particularly in gender and health, towards expediting climate finance access and designing focused project proposals and policies in beneficiary countries. He stated, “The deployment of thematic climate finance experts, especially on gender and health, will contribute significantly to enhancing the speed of accessing climate finance, including designing gender and health-focused project proposals and policies in beneficiary countries.”
In a recent development, advisers associated with the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub participated in a Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) masterclass, aiming to ensure the incorporation of gender considerations across all operations supported by the flagship initiative. Additionally, COP28 witnessed the inaugural thematic ‘Health Day,’ where the joint Commonwealth and PATH accelerator for climate and health innovations was launched, drawing the participation of environment ministers, private investors, indigenous peoples, and youth.
