- To contribute to global green recovery efforts, the NAMA Facility is announcing a special Ambition Initiative, led by Germany and the UK, and opened to other donors
- €168 million of new funding will support climate action projects in developing countries who are going to increase and accelerate their climate ambition targets ahead of COP26
- Countries with the most ambitious emission reduction plans will be supported to build back greener as they recover from the Coronavirus pandemic
At the New York Climate Week, the Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action Facility (known as the NAMA Facility) today announces a new €168 million Ambition Initiative with contributions from the UK and Germany, to support countries with the implementation of their emissions reduction targets as they recover from the Coronavirus pandemic. New donors are also invited to join the Initiative.
Governments around the world have been rightfully focusing on the response to Covid-19 but no country can afford to ignore the threat of climate change. The NAMA Facility Ambition Initiative will support those countries who plan to increase their emissions reduction plans ahead of COP26, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), and gear toward a carbon-neutral economy.
From December 2020, the Initiative will invite project applications for a combination of technical assistance and climate finance to enable partner countries to implement their enhanced NDCs, while strengthening their economies and their resilience to future shocks.
The NAMA Facility is already delivering ambitious climate action across a diverse range of countries and sectors – from electric mobility, to coffee production, to low-carbon farming or energy-efficient housing. NAMA Facility’s projects demonstrate that climate action and economic growth go hand in hand. For instance, a recent project in Thailand is helping rice farmers to adopt low carbon technologies and increase their profits by 157%. By 2028 low-carbon rice farming will help to reduce harmful emissions by 20% in Thailand.
Svenja Schulze, Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety said:
“The BMU’s 100-million-euro contribution to this initiative is intended to send a clear message: support is available for countries that are stepping up their climate ambitions”
COP26 President and Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Alok Sharma said:
“As holder of the COP26 Presidency, the UK is urging all countries to increase their climate ambition well ahead of the summit, but we recognise some will need support to make this happen.
“That is why the UK is stepping up with a contribution of £63 million to the NAMA Facility’s new Ambition Initiative and we invite others to join us and Germany in this push for making climate solutions more accessible for all.”
In what is NAMA Facility’s largest-ever funding round supporting carbon-neutral development, the Federal Government of Germany has committed €100 million and the UK Government has contributed €68 million toward the Ambition Initiative. The Initiative is open to new external partners, who wish to take decisive action on climate change and join in to deliver on the global commitments made under the Paris Agreement.
The NAMA Facility is uniquely positioned to deliver the new Initiative with its experience spanning over eight years of successful delivery across 27 countries and 34 innovative projects. By 2024, it is expected to support 23.5 million people, who will benefit from climate-friendly solutions such as clean, reliable energy sources, and reduce carbon emissions by 15.3 MtCO2e which is equivalent to 3.3 million passenger vehicles being taken off the road for a year.1
Commenting on the NAMA Facility in 2019, Andrea Meza, now the Environment Minister of Costa Rica, said:
“The NAMA Support Project has been the key to promoting the transformational change we want to achieve in the coffee sector. I find it fascinating to see how we have advanced from identifying and measuring the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions to, finally, implementing the low-carbon technology needed to reduce them. It’s also very exciting to be able to drink a cup of low-carbon coffee and know the work that goes into it.”
1 Check out the Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator