Washington, DC (BBN)- Representatives from donor and developing countries meeting in Washington have finalized their choice of countries to serve initially on the committees that will oversee decisions about investments and implementation of the newly created multi-billion dollar Climate Investment Funds (CIF).
The CIF design provides that donor and potential recipient countries should hold an equal number of seats, to be selected through a process of consultation among the countries themselves.
Seven donor countries (Australia, France, Germany, Japan, Sweden, the UK, and the US) and seven potential recipient countries (Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Mexico, South Africa, and Turkey) were selected as members of the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) Trust Fund Committee, according to a World Bank press statement.
Similarly, seven donors (Australia, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, and the UK) and seven potential recipient countries (Algeria, Bangladesh, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Kenya, Thailand, and Yemen) were selected as members of the Strategic Climate Fund (SCF) Trust Fund Committee. In addition, the SCF Trust Fund Committee approved the composition (Australia, Bolivia, Germany, Japan, Maldives, Samoa, Senegal, the UK, and Yemen) of a Sub-Committee to oversee the Pilot Program on Climate Resilience (PPCR).
The design stipulates that one more donor and one more potential recipient country may join each Trust Fund Committee for a maximum of eight seats each, the statement added.
In September, 2008, donor nations pledged over US$6 billion to the Climate Investment Funds, created to provide interim, scaled-up funding to help developing countries in their efforts to address climate change in their development strategies.
The Partnership Forum is a venue to provide dialogue on the strategic directions, results, and impacts of the CIF.
It also provides a platform to share lessons learned as widely as possible. The first Forum, held in Washington this week, was a broad-based meeting of stakeholders attended by donor and recipient countries, United Nations agencies, the Global Environment Facility, bilateral development agencies, non-governmental organizations, private sector entities, and scientific and technical experts, the statement said.
BBN/SI/SS/AD-18)ctober08-2:47 PM (BST)