Structured Dialogue with Asia 2018
Da Nang, Viet Nam
17 - 20 April 2018
The Structured Dialogue with Asia brought 26 countries from across the region to Da Nang in Viet Nam from May 17 to 20. The Dialogue provided an important platform for diverse stakeholders – including government ministers, GCF Accredited Entities and National Designated Authorities (NDAs), civil society private sector representatives, and international development partners – to meet in one place and share experiences about accessing and engaging with GCF.
During the high-level interactions of the Dialogue, ministers from a number of Asian countries reaffirmed the need to move from climate change plans and policies to action. They stressed the necessity of mainstreaming such action across different sectors, given the multi-dimensional impacts of climate change.
This followed a general acknowledgement of the potential of climate change to reverse development gains. Significant climate risks to economic development therefore require strategic and effective responses, particularly involving the private sector.
There was widespread recognition that, following the entry into force of the Paris Agreement in November 2016, the move towards low-carbon development and resilient societies will require concerted efforts from all parties – government, private sector and civil society – acting together with partners like GCF. As Nguyen The Phuong, Vice Minister of Planning and Investment of Viet Nam, said, GCF funding could “significantly influence the quality of life” of hundreds of millions of people.
Some of the key outcomes and points of shared learning from the Structure Dialogue include:
- Successful examples of country programmes underscore the value of these strategic documents – which individual countries draw up to help channel necessary climate finance – to align and prioritise climate change challenges together with other national priorities.
- Country engagement that takes into account diverse needs and involves actors from various sectors sets a strong foundation to identify and prioritise climate finance projects
- When submitting funding proposals to GCF, it is important to establish a strong rationale for climate action, and link this to activities that also contribute to countries’ larger policy frameworks
- Given that GCF is a Fund, and not a bank, it has at a range of financial instruments at its disposal which developing countries can access.
- The management of environmental and social risks is critical in achieving climate finance project goals. The integration of these considerations in climate change investment plans ensures that actions will do no harm, and act to improve the resilience and quality of life of those most affected by climate change
