Transforming the planet through Green Climate Change (GCC) and Green Climate Fund (GCF)
Progress and development cannot be resisted. We live in an era of many interventions and changes occurring in every minute detail of our lives. Living as it is, cannot be devoid of technology and advancements. We live in a complex and te…
Progress and development cannot be resisted. We live in an era of many interventions and changes occurring in every minute detail of our lives. Living as it is, cannot be devoid of technology and advancements.
We live in a complex and technology-driven society. Nothing is simpler. The effects remain enormous when seen at the global level. It is the driving force behind climate change. Is it destroying or improving the world we live in, it is something to debate about, but we cannot go backward and avoid the requirements of the developments. More and more urbanization will occur, and natural resources will keep on depleting every single day. What is the solution here? Is there any?
Introducing the Green Climate Fund
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) was established to create funds and make financial decisions, enabling developing countries to turn NDC (Nationally Determined Contribution) ambitions into climate action. the financial support is achieved by grants, concessional debts, private investments, equity instruments or guarantees, etc. These funds are used in mitigation and adaptation activities.
Mitigation embraces the initiatives taken to reduce the release of greenhouse gas emissions and increase the capacity of carbon sinks. Eight mitigation areas have been mostly focused on. They are health, food and water security, livelihoods, people and communities, energy generation and access, transport, infrastructure, and built environment, ecosystems and ecosystem services, buildings, cities, industries and appliances, forests, and land use.
How does GCF come into existence?
It was in the year 2009 that GCF was first proposed at the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC in Copenhagen, Denmark (COP 15), and in the year 2010, GCF was established in Cancun, Mexico (COP 16). GCF serves as the financial mechanism of the UNFCCC (UN Framework Convention on Climate Change). The first meeting for GCF’s governing board was held in 2012, participated by the developed and developing countries.
In December 2013, Songdo, Republic of Korea was made the permanent headquarters for establishing funds. In 2015, the first project investment decisions were taken at Paris COP in which 195 countries agreed to it. Since then, many countries have taken an active part, pledged, and donated to the cause.
Who are the contributors to the GCF?
These are nearly 49 countries that have pledged under GCF and 9 representing countries which include Chile, Columbia, Indonesia, Mexico, Mongolia, Panama, Peru, the Republic of Korea, and Vietnam. Austria pledged for the first time at the Pledging Conference 2014, in which Austria announced USD 25 million and signed EUR 26 million. The contributors can also be cities that wish for significant contributions to the great cause.
Major city contributors include Paris. The population prefers to live in cities and urban regions because the facilities and opportunities are much more advanced and accessible than the rural areas. Nearly 70 % of the population lives in cities, and they consume most of the resources, causing the most damage to the global climate. The idea is to generate a global response to climate change and prevent the emission of harmful greenhouse gas house emissions, especially from developing countries.
What is the purpose of GCC and GCF?
It aims to improve the resilience of communities and ecosystems to climate change. The purpose also includes protecting the biodiversity and ecosystems of the Amazon. It supports the Great Green Wall (GGW) initiative, which was launched in 2007 by African Union member countries. The Great Green Wall region is adversely affected in the Sahel, Africa due to climate change, and it suffers a temperature increase 1.5 times greater than the rest of the world.
The increased number of floods and droughts has led to destruction in the area and threats to life and livelihoods. The population is suffering, and the land is either parched or drowned, making it unfit for living, producing, and thriving. This initiative prevents desertification, combatting climate change, and helping people adjust and cope with the situation.
Interestingly, at the One Planet Summit, there has been a constant effort to finance the GGW countries for promoting climate-resilient agriculture, ecosystem restoration, and climate-resilient infrastructure. The focus is on renewable energy to utilize the resources efficiently and bring as minimal effect to the climate as possible.
Conclusion
It is one of the attempts taken globally, and because it is country-driven, it does raise the essential funds needed for the cause. Many such attempts have been initiated, and people actively participate at smaller and larger levels. The need for making aware the community and population is immense. People may still find it very difficult to understand the depth of the problem.
It is an issue that affects all, including humans, animals, plants, and even the non-living physical factors of the planet. Survivability is in grave danger, and we need to understand that the planet is becoming inhabitable, mostly due to anthropogenic factors. Man has caused this; man needs to stop it!