The International Climate Initiative – achievements to date
(Last updated: December 2012)
Since 2008, the
International Climate Initiative (ICI) of the Federal Ministry for
the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) has
been financing climate and biodiversity projects in developing and
newly industrialising countries, as well as in countries in
transition. Based on a decision taken by the German parliament
(Bundestag), a sum of 120 million euros is available for use by the
initiative annually. The ICI was a key element of Germany’s
fast-start financing. The Energy and Climate Fund (EKF) launched by
the German Government in 2011 is a further source of finance for
international climate and biodiversity projects, part of which is
deployed through the ICI. That Fund is replenished from the
auctioning of emission allowances.
Since the ICI was
launched in 2008 until December 2012, BMU has initiated 326 projects
with funding totalling some 818 million euros. Additional capital
contributed by the agencies implementing the projects and co-funding
from other public sources like the European Union and the
private-sector bring the total volume disbursed for ICI projects to
2.4 billion euros.
The projects are carried out by a broad range of entities: the German Government’s major implementing organisations Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and KfW Entwicklungsbank, multilateral organisations like United Nations organisations and multilateral development banks, NGOs, research institutes, foundations and private companies.
Focal themes
The ICI’s work focuses on four areas:
- Building a climate-friendly economy
- Adaptation to climate change
- Conservation of natural carbon sinks REDD+
- Conservation of biological diversity
About 54 per cent of
ICI’s funding is currently allocated to projects that contribute to
building a climate-friendly economy (180 projects with a total
funding volume of 444 million euros). They target measures to reduce
emissions, with a focus on energy efficiency and renewable energies
as well as promoting the design and implementation of low emission
development strategies (LEDS) and nationally appropriate mitigation
actions (NAMAs).
About 25 per cent of
ICI funding is allocated to projects in the field of REDD+ and other
carbon reservoirs (76 projects with a total funding volume of 202
million euros).
Climate change
adaptation projects currently amount for 14 per cent of the total
support volume (58 projects with a total funding volume of 118
million euros). They focus on ecosystem-based adaptation, and also on
supporting partner countries in developing and implementing national
adaptation strategies and on innovative insurance solutions.
The conservation of
biolodiversity has been a co-benefit arising from numerous ICI
projects. Since 2011, it is a dedicated focus of support which is
financed through the newly launched EKF. To date, 12 projects with a
total funding volume of 55 are being supported. Activities
concentrate on implementing the Strategic Plan 2011–2020 of the
Convention on Biological Diversity and its Aichi Targets.
Regional focus
The
ICI’s 326 projects are distributed across about 80 partner
countries. In addition to bilateral and regional projects, the
initiative supports projects with a global focus. Almost 23 per cent
of the ICI’s total funds are allocated to projects of a global
nature that cannot be assigned to any specific region. The graphic
below shows the regional distribution:
