FIJI has secured $US42.6million ($F97.7m) in funding to protect coral reefs, restore mangroves and strengthen the resilience of vulnerable coastal communities.
Minister for Environment and Climate Change Lynda Tabuya told Parliament yesterday the Green Climate Fund (GCF) approval was a historic achievement that would benefit almost 400,000 people.
The project will restore more than 3300 hectares of mangrove and riparian forests and bring about 2.5 million hectares of coral reefs and vulnerable coastal areas under sustainable management.
“So, we’ve launched the policy in pre-COP, and now we have just received confirmation of funding from Green Climate Fund of $US42.6million, and out of that, $US35.2million are grant-based, so we don’t need to pay it back,” she said.
Ms Tabuya said the latest approval followed another $US29.3million ($F65.8m) in GCF grants secured in July.
“This is historic.”
She said the approvals marked the first time Fiji had secured two national project approvals at consecutive GCF board meetings, and the first national project approval since 2017.
Ms Tabuya acknowledged the years of work behind securing the funding and said Fiji would continue advocating for predictable and timely climate financing at COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye.
“If we are not present, we are not part of negotiations, we are not part of the lobbying, and we will not be able to get the kind of funding and secure funding for climate finance that we need.”
