During COP28, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, held in Dubai from November 30 to December 12, 2023, Profonanpe, Peru’s environmental fund, stood out as a key player in the implementation of innovative environmental initiatives for biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Claudia Godfrey, Profonanpe’s Director of Innovation and Strategic Management, attended a panel led by the Adaptation Fund on Saturday, December 2, where she shared our experience in the development of a pilot Early Warning System for fisheries, as part of the implementation of the Coastal Marine Adaptation Project, which ended in March of this year and aimed to contribute to reducing the vulnerability of coastal communities to the impacts of climate change. This project was financed by the Adaptation Fund.
As part of our commitment to environmental, social and gender objectives, Claudia Godfrey participated as a speaker during the “Gender Day”, a space organized by Sathsathai in the Nepal Pavilion. In this forum, called “Climate Change and its impact on vulnerable groups”, the need to work for gender equity and the closing of gaps in environmental projects, in which women are recognized as a group in a more vulnerable situation due to multiple historical, social and economic factors, was put on the table.
Profonanpe was able to highlight the fundamental role played by women in the territory in achieving results in the projects we implement throughout Peru, as well as their increasingly protagonist participation, where, however, several challenges and opportunities for improvement are still identified to ensure sustainable development.
On December 5, Profonanpe, as an accredited entity before the Green Climate Fund (GCF), presented its experience in the design and implementation of initiatives in the Peruvian Amazon, at the launch of the preparatory support for the project “Expanding the co-management model of Communal Reserves to reduce emissions and increase the resilience of Indigenous Peoples in the Peruvian Amazon,” by Anecap and the GCF, with the presence of Conservation International.
Profonanpe was also part of the “Presentation of the Community of Practice of Direct Access Entities (CPDAE)” in the Pavilions of Ivory Coast and Panama, and on December 8, in the Pavilion of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), Adaptation Fund (AF), Green Climate Fund (GCF) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), in which the progress of the CPDAE was presented and the challenges for accreditation and reaccreditation were addressed, based on Profonanpe’s experience as a fund accredited by both the Green Climate Fund and the Adaptation Fund.
As Peru is a country vulnerable to the effects of climate change, we were panelists in the forum “Improving climate resilient development in Latin America and the Caribbean”, in which the lessons learned from the Coastal Marine Adaptation project were shared, which are very relevant for the context of climate crisis in which we find ourselves, and which demands urgent action from the public sector, private sector and civil society.
During the December 10 session, Claudia also participated in the GCF panel “Catalyzing Change: Integrity and Accountability in Climate Action” with the Rwandan Ministry of Environment. In the implementation of environmental projects, the channeling and management of donor funds is essential to guarantee project success and build trust, an important asset for actions to be sustainable and have governmental support. In contexts of social, political and economic crises, the articulating role of environmental funds around the world and their capacity for efficient accountability are key to achieving the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
In its 30 years of institutional life, Profonanpe has been able to implement more than 60 projects and has raised more than USD 390 MM. During all this time, it has become evident the need to work together with indigenous communities and the private sector, key allies with whom environmental funds must articulate for the sustainable management of natural resources through the mobilization of economic resources and the use of the latest technologies. Therefore, just as during COP28 it was agreed and a call was made to companies to abandon fossil fuels in energy systems, at Profonanpe we once again invite the private sector to align itself with the objectives of climate action and to be strategic allies in the construction of a sustainable planet for all.
