Page 12 - IB November 2023

Climate Change Climate Change

Secretariat in Suva and led the accreditation exercise like average in the Pacific. There are case studies of countries
for Tuvalu’s Ministry of Finance to the Adaptation Fund that have taken seven years,” Moresi told Islands Business.
(established under the Kyoto Protocol of the UNFCCC). The Moresi says some Pacific Island countries started the
accreditation process took three years. accreditation process and decided to drop it.
He says Tuvalu was told it had to first obtain accreditation “They think it’s too hard.”
with the Adaptation Fund and then acquire accreditation with The alternative is for countries to go through regional
the GCF. Moresi questions the duplication of processes. agencies such as the Pacific Community (SPC) and the
“Why can’t it be the same accreditation? Once you pass a Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme
certain threshold, why can’t you be accredited to the GCF (SPREP) who have accreditation with the climate fund
as well?” Moresi told Islands Business. “But no, the way it’s agencies. Even then, the capacity issues are ongoing because
existing, we had to apply for accreditation separately with these entities still have to manage the funds and projects for
both entities. Yet, the process is very, very similar in what individual countries. According to Moresi, at least one major
the requirements are for the public finance system, internal regional agency has said it cannot manage more than two
audits, reporting, accountability, financial management projects in a year.
Only four entities in the Pacific have direct accreditation
with the GCF: the Fiji Development Bank, the Cook Islands
Ministry of Finance, the Pacific Community (SPC) and the
“The term climate finance was never consistently
defined. The allocation of rights and responsibilities is Micronesian Conservation Trust. Tuvalu and the Secretariat
a conversation that developed countries don’t want to of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) are
engage in.”
- Dr Jale Samuwai is a manager with the United accredited with the Adaptation Fund.
States-based Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) The GCF requires reaccreditation after five years, a process
Photo: CFAN
the Micronesian Conservation Trust, has recently gone
through.
Countries can also access multilateral accredited entities
information systems and budgeting process.” such as the United Nations Development Programme and the
Moresi says it’s important for climate fund agencies Asian Development Bank.
to consider the context of the Pacific when laying out Tuvalu’s US$36 million project was accessed through the
institutional framework requirements. UNDP.
“They apply the same requirements for the United States But Samuwai says even once projects are approved, the
as they do for Niue or Cook Islands. Let me talk about Tuvalu, disbursement process is very slow.
which I’m very familiar with. Tuvalu has a [coastal adaptation] “It’s a long-winded process,” says Moresi.
project approved under the GCF worth US$36 million, and “First, you get accreditation, just to say your systems
that in the Pacific context, is a large project. Most projects passed the benchmark to be able to get the money. Then you
are around $10 million to $20 million. Yet we’re executing a have to develop the project, where you have to prove that a
budget of about $100 million every year, yet this project is large part of the project actually addresses a climate issue in
one-off. Do they not realise that we can manage a budget far the Pacific. Most of the projects are about adaptation. It’s not
greater than what we are applying for? I’m not against having so much going to solve climate change, but how we’re going
accountability, transparency and reporting criteria, but I think to reduce the impacts of climate change through specific
they should also take into consideration the context.”
Samuwai and Moresi agree on the need for Pacific Island
states to be able to demonstrate accountability to climate
fund agencies. Upgrading their public finance systems as part “If climate finance is delayed, the impacts are
compounded, the magnitude increases and the need
of the process is beneficial in the long run because it leaves is even more dire.”
the bureaucracies with vastly improved financial systems. But - Karlos Moresi is Programme Adviser on
Resilience Development Finance with the Pacific
the stringency of the requirements and the amount of time Islands Forum Secretariat in Suva
and work accreditation takes, creates enormous issues of Photo: Islands Business
scale for island states.
Says Moresi: “I always quote the Secretary of Finance
at the Cook Islands who said if he had a department of 20
people in the Ministry of Finance and lost two of his senior adaptation projects. You go through the process and if it gets
people, straightaway, there’s 10% of his capacity [gone]. But approved, then you have what they call the ‘implementing
because they’re senior people, it’s probably more like 20% of partner process’, which is again different. And before they
his capacity. And then you have to rebuild it. In terms of the disperse the funding, you are required to go through a
whole ecosystem of governments, there’s a big turnover in all separate legal process. The legal requirement and partnership
ministries, especially finance, there’s a big demand for these agreements, the immunities for the GCF, for example. All
skills and they move.” these requirements can take another six months to a year in
The three years it took Tuvalu to acquire accreditation, “is itself. If you add it all up, you’re talking maybe seven to 10

12 Islands Business, November 2023