ISLAMABAD: The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has announced US$ 66 million in funding to support the Government of Pakistan’s efforts to reduce the twin climate impacts of flooding and drought.
The investment will improve the resilience of some of the country’s most vulnerable communities affected by the impacts of climate change, including catastrophic flooding.
The new 7-year project, ‘Recharge Pakistan: Building Pakistan’s Resilience to Climate Change through Ecosystem-Based Adaptation for Integrated Flood Risk Management’, is the largest investment at the national level to date in an ecosystem-based approach to flood and water resources management, a news release said.
A collaboration between the Government of Pakistan’s Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC), the Federal Flood Commission (FFC) under the Ministry of Water Resources, and WWF-Pakistan; the project will demonstrate the effectiveness of ecosystem-based adaptation and green infrastructure as an innovative addition to the nation’s traditional grey infrastructure solutions to flood and drought.
This will be achieved through restoration and reforestation of forests and wetlands; rehabilitation of water flow paths and channels; development of recharge basins and retention areas; and strengthening the climate resilience of local businesses in the agriculture and forests sectors.
In addition to the GCF funding, the project is supported through a collective US$ 12 million investment and technical support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Coca-Cola Foundation and WWF-Pakistan.
Collectively, the project’s interventions will directly benefit over 600,000 people and will indirectly benefit close to 7,000,000 people.
