As a Small Island Developing State, Cabo Verde is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The country’s key economic sectors: Fisheries and Aquaculture, Tourism and Energy, brought together under the Blue Economy (Cadre Stratégique Unifié pour l’Economie Bleue, CaSUEB, 2019) with the leadership of the Ministry of Maritime Economy, are essential to addressing the climate change challenges. Cabo Verde has already experienced extensive coastal erosion, and has suffered damages from extreme weather events (heavy rainfall and hurricanes), as well as strong and long drought.

Key stakeholders of the Blue Economy at national and sub-national level are still insufficiently aware of the potential impacts of climate change on their sectors and lack the coordination mechanisms to jointly address these expected impacts. In addition, technical capacities to model and interpret climate change impacts are weak. While the key documents of the Blue Economy do make reference to climate change and its possible impacts on the concerned sectors, tailored and costed adaptation and mitigation priorities, as well as opportunities of financing for these priorities are yet to be identified.

This proposal aims at building the capacities of key Blue Economy sectors stakeholders through enhancing networks, knowledge and understanding on the impacts of climate change on the Blue Economy, thus contributing to building the enabling environment required to support the planning, programming and implementation of GCF-funded activities under a Blue Economy Climate Pipeline (supported by a Blue Economy Climate Investment Plan and A Blue Economy Climate Financing Strategy). More broadly, support will be provided to identify investment needs in other sectors relevant to FAO’s comparative advantage (Fisheries and the Blue Economy, Agriculture, Forestry and Forest Ecosystems, Food and Water Security, Early Warning Systems, etc.) that, together with the Blue Economy Climate Pipeline, will be integrated to Cabo Verde’s Country Programme to be developed by UNIDO.

The proposal will assist the Government of Cabo Verde in fully mainstreaming climate issues into the Blue Economy, and in implementing the priorities defined in the intended Nationally Determined Contribution (2017) and the National Adaptation Programme of Action (2007). The support provided through this proposal will include the development of detailed investment plans that can be used to readily implement adaptation (and mitigation) actions relevant to the sectors of the Blue Economy (Fisheries and Aquaculture, Tourism, and Energy in particular), and contribute to the development of the GCF Country Programme in synergy with UNIDO that can set path for holistic and integrated decision making towards addressing national climate change programming priorities.