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Ministry of Environment and Global Green Growth Institute Select Cities and Villages Development Bank to be Green Climate Fund Direct Access Entity Candidate for Jordan

On Thursday, July 18, 2019, the Ministry of Environment hosted a kick-off meeting and signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the ministry for the Jordan Green Climate Fund Readiness Accreditation Support activity, formalizing the partnership between it, the Global Green Growth Institute, and the Cities and Villages Development Bank.  H.E.  Eng. Ibrahim Shahahdeh, the Minister of Environment and Agriculture, was represented at the signing by H.E.  Eng. Ahmad Al-Qatarneh, Secretary-General, along with Mr. Osama Al-Azzam, Director General of Cities and Villages Development Bank, and Mr. Ahmed Al-Amra, Country Representative of the GGGI. Other attendees included representatives of the ministry’s Climate Change Directorate, including the director, Mr. Belal Shaqrin2 and the GGGI Jordan country program team, and CVDB project team including Dr. Wafa Abu Samra.

The Ministry of Environment’s National Green Growth Plan for Jordan was endorsed by the cabinet in February 2017.  One component for successful implementation of this national roadmap is securing access to finance. As part of its mandate, the Green Climate Fund allows for national entities to become accredited to access financing for national climate change related projects.  They also provide technical support to national designated authorities and nominated entities seeking accreditation through readiness proposals designed to strengthen national capacity to engage with the fund and implement projects.

In April 2018, the Green Climate Fund approved a GCF Readiness Project for Jordan with three major outcomes.  The project is a joint effort between the Ministry, which serves as the national designated authority for Jordan to the GCF and its delivery partner GGGI, an intergovernmental agency dedicated to supporting and promoting strong, inclusive and sustainable economic growth in developing countries and emerging economies. It worth mentioning that GGGI has been working in Jordan since 2015, with various ministries on key policy outputs such as the National Green Growth Plan.

The project seeks to support the accreditation of a direct access entity to the GCF, develop a pipeline of climate change related projects for potential GCF financing, and increase the private sector’s knowledge and participation on climate actions in Jordan.  To achieve the accreditation outcome, the Ministry of Environment with support from GGGI began a national search for candidates to receive technical support and capacity building to meet GCF accreditation requirements.

After the national call for Expressions of Interest to become Jordan’s first Green Climate Fund accredited entity, the Cities and Villages Development Bank (CVDB) was selected through an open and transparent process.  CVDB demonstrated the strongest capacity to meet the GCF accreditation requirements which include financial, environmental and social, and gender standards.

By becoming a Direct Access Entity (DAE) to the Green Climate Fund, the CVDB will be able to request funding for climate projects in Jordan and receive those funds directly from the fund.  They will also manage and supervise the successful implementation of those projects.  The Green Climate Fund through its rigorous accreditation process ensures that the entity can successfully manage the financing and project implementation.  The Ministry of Environment and GGGI will work with the CVDB over the next twelve months to ensure a successful accreditation application by providing the technical support needed to meet all requirements.

Through this partnership and a successful accreditation application to the Green Climate Fund, CVDB will be able to support the Ministry of Environment in exercising ownership of climate change funding, better integrate it with their national climate action plans, and build and retain capacity in Jordan to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

For more information about GGGI’s work on the GCF Readiness or other important green growth projects and programs in Jordan, please contact Ahmed Al Amra, Country Representative, Jordan Program at ahmed.amra@gggi.org.