Deadline: 1-Aug-22

The Climate Investment Funds (CIF) has launched an open call to submit an Expression of Interest (EoI) for the Nature, People and Climate (NPC) Investment Program.

CIF’s Nature, People and Climate Investment Program will tackle in an integrated manner, the multiple drivers and impacts of climate change resulting from human activities on land resources and ecosystems services. By working with multilateral development banks as implementing agencies, fostering strategic partnerships, and deploying scaled-up and flexible concessional capital, the program aims to support multi-sectoral solutions, including the creation of enabling environments and direct investments for improved use of land, coastal and other natural resources.

The program is premised on a landscape approach that will enable CIF recipient governments and implementing partners to deliver core climate results (GHG mitigation, resilience strengthening of lands and communities), while also generating improved livelihoods, biodiversity conservation, and disaster risk reduction among other benefits. The program seeks to contribute progress towards sustainable, just and equitable rural development.

Objectives

The objective will be achieved by deploying sustainable, multi-sectoral approaches most suited to the target context—government, industry, or community-led models—to harness the potential of land resources and ecosystems in climate action and to target contextspecific barriers to the sustainable use and management of land resources and ecosystems. It will do so in key areas of relevance for achieving the land and ecosystems transitions, namely agriculture and food, forests, and other ecosystems like coastal systems, by addressing trade-offs and synergies among stakeholders and between different parts of the prioritized areas and by building collaborative relationships. To these ends, CIF Nature Solutions will deploy CIF’s concessional resources to do the following:

• Establish a shared vision for sustainably using and managing land resources through a programmatic multi-stakeholder process, fostering partnerships across government levels, sector agencies, the private sector, local communities, and Indigenous Peoples.
• Strengthen enabling environments to encourage investments in Nature-based solutions and enable the adoption of sustainable practices. This will involve scaling-up support to national and sub-national governments in identifying specific socioeconomic development and climate and land-related issues to address and in promoting measures to boost sustainable livelihoods, build resilience at the local level, and conserve, restore, and enhance natural resources.
• Tackle risks and financing barriers and create incentives for sustainable use of lands and natural resources, including those from coastal systems30, by providing risk coverage and catalytic funding.
• Foster innovation by providing funding support to pilot innovative projects and financial models and support the uptake of new technologies, including the use of data-driven spatial planning tools and agricultural innovations like biotechnology.
• Support Indigenous Peoples and local communities to actively develop and implement projects catering to their unique needs through dedicated resources.

Eligibility Criteria

All countries that meet the following criteria can submit an EoI:

• Country is eligible for Official Development Assistance (ODA) at the time of the call(s) for EoI.
• Country must have an active lending program with at least one of CIF’s partner MDBs.
• The Proposed line of actions contribute to one or more of the following Nature-based Solutions to Climate Change:
• Conserving, sustainably managing, or restoring natural ecosystems or enhancing forest, coastal, or soil carbon stocks, while supporting rural livelihoods and conserving biodiversity;
• Improving agricultural productivity through practices that reduce GHG emissions, and/or strengthen the resilience of lands and rural communities to the impacts of climate change, while supporting rural livelihoods;
• Protecting or restoring coastal and/or other inland water-related ecosystems while reducing GHG emissions and/or strengthen the resilience of lands and rural communities to the impacts of climate change, and developing livelihood options for local communities;
• Addressing the climate vulnerability of coastal systems and communities.

For more information, visit https://bit.ly/3Q9X8ik