Writing skills training for climate funds access

PARTICIPANTS from several Pacific Island countries are part of a three-day regional training program in Suva this week to enhance proposal writing skills for climate finance access.

While opening the training workshop on Tuesday, the permanent secretary for the Ministry for Environment, Dr Sivendra Michael, reiterated the importance of vulnerable Pacific communities’ access to climate funds.

Dr Michael also quoted the UNFCCC’s standing committee on finance which stated that developing countries would need nearly $6trillion to implement respective climate action plans by 2030.

“Climate finance is crucial for achieving climate goals, such as transitioning to renewable energy, improving energy efficiency, and protecting vulnerable communities,” Dr Michael said.

“Accessing climate finance is therefore about addressing livelihoods and about the lives we can save by channelling our money to build resilience against climate change.”

Small Island Developing States (SIDS), Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and other vulnerable countries, he said, faced acute impacts of climate change in a disproportional way. He said Fiji and five other countries received technical assistance from the Commonwealth Climate Finance

Access Hub (CCFAH) through long-term climate finance advisers.

Through this training, participants from Fiji, Tuvalu, Nauru, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Palau, and the Federated States of Micronesia are expected to gain a deeper understanding of international climate finance mechanisms, the elements of bankable investment proposals for climate finance, the application of Earth Observation and Geospatial Data in the proposal and project idea development.